This Isn't a Dream
by korra-naga-mako lover 2112
Summary: Kairi finds a dead body in a basement of the orphanage she is in. On top figuring out a big mystery, she'll have to go through the struggles of daily life. Sokai! Beta read by FlowerLady Aerith. DISCONTINUED!
1. Prolouge

**Hello newcomers and re:readers of this fic! I have decided to start all over on this one. I wanted more detail and I wanted it to be longer. So, without further or do, enjoy. But, just letting you know, This will always in Kairi's POV.**

Prologue

Leon gripped his hands on the steering wheel. "Ready?" He asked me, while I was getting the giant picnic basket into the vehicle. "Yeah, I think so." I said as he floored it. I wasn't even buckled and that's when I dropped my food and fell to the floor. Yuffie and Aerith laughed. It wasn't funny, but I laughed it off. Considering Leon is spontaneous and just started driving, I can't stay mad at him. "Oh…. Sorry, Kairi. He said as we slowly went down my drive way. But, my ice cream is all over his Silverado. Crap. Leon just realized the smell of my homemade sea salt ice cream. "Kairi, Why weren't you quicker?"

Leon gripped the steering wheel. "Ready?" he asked me, while I was putting the giant, picnic basket into the vehicle.

"Yeah, I think so," I said as he floored it. I wasn't even buckled in, so I dropped my food and fell to the floor. Yuffie and Aerith laughed. It wasn't funny, but I laughed it off. Considering Leon has always been spontaneous and just started driving, I couldn't stay mad at him.

"Oh…. sorry, Kairi," he said as we slowly drove out my driveway. My ice cream was all over his Silverado. Crap.

Leon recognized the smell of my homemade, sea salt ice cream. "Kairi, why weren't you quicker?"

I didn't answer him. All this summer, his dad drove us because my parents didn't trust me for awhile. I guess they let it go when I turned fifteen. I mean, they sheltered me all my life. I barely had a social life and these three people (Aerith, Yuffie and Leon) were all I had. They kept holding on. Everyone else acted so crappy to me. I am glad I have some actual friends. I wish I could tell my parents off.

I didn't answer him. All this summer, his dad drove us because my parents didn't trust me. I guess they let it go when I turned fifteen. I mean, they sheltered me all my life. I barely had a social life and these three people were all I had. They kept holding on. Everyone else treated me like crap. I was glad to have some actual friends. I only wished I could tell my parents off.

With this awkward silence, Yuffie decided to break it by laughing out of and Leon both jumped, causing Leon to jerk on the red light. Aerith loses her temper for the first time "YUFFIE,WHAT WAS SO FUNNY? YOU ALMOST CAUSED US TO WREAK! YOU KNOW, WE ARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEARTLESS FIGHTERS AND I DON'T WANT TO RISK MY LIFE ANYMORE UNLESS I AM FIGHTING!" I didn't expect this out of my calmest friend. This never happened.

Yuffie decided to break the awkward silence by suddenly laughing out loud. Leon jumped and jerked his steering wheel at a red light. Aerith lost her temper for the first time and screamed, "YUFFIE,WHAT WAS SO FUNNY? YOU ALMOST CAUSED US TO WREAK! YOU KNOW, WE ARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF HEARTLESS FIGHTERS AND I DON'T WANT TO RISK MY LIFE ANYMORE UNLESS I AM FIGHTING!" I didn't expect this out of my calmest friend. This had never happened.

People jerk their vehicles here all the time. Traverse Town's traffic is so bad; you'll wanna die trying to get through it. As a kid, I always walked to school. Surprisingly, my parents didn't know this for I told them I took the bus. Buses suck, just saying.

People in Traverse Town would jerk their vehicles all the time, which is why traffic has always been so bad. Just trying to navigate through it will make anyone want to die. As a kid, I always walked to school. Surprisingly, my parents never found out, because I told them that I took the bus. Buses suck, just saying.

Yuffie wipes a tear off of her face while chuckling softly. "Sorry, Aerith, it's just that I came up with this joke and-" Aerith calms down, but she seems like she is still angry. With Aerith and I in the back, and Leon and Yuffie in the front, It was a little challenging for her to hit Yuffie in the head with a coke bottle.

Yuffie wiped a tear off of her face while chuckling softly. "Sorry, Aerith, it's just that I came up with this joke and-" Aerith calmed down, but she seemed like she was still angry. With Aerith and I in the back and Leon and Yuffie in the front, it was a little challenging for her to hit Yuffie in the head with her coke bottle.

Leon was quite all this time. But, I guess curiosity got the best of him. "What was the joke?" he asked. "Okay well ….. It goes like this: A blonde finds a box of cheerios and says 'Wow! Donut seeds!'" Aerith retorted "You googled that up." Yuffie defends her joke by saying "I didn't! It came from my own head!" Leon states "Aerith, don't fight with Yuffie, you know she's sensitive." Through the mirror, I could see her blushing. "I am not sensitive!" She seemed like she was so defensive, it was hilarious! We all had a good laugh. It ended when we arrived to the national park. But- wait! What about my icecream?! "Guys, I forgot to mention that I spilled my ice cream in Leon's Silverado earlier!"

Leon was quiet all this time, but I guess curiosity got the best of him. "What was the joke?" he asked.

"Okay well ….. It goes like this: A blonde finds a box of cheerios and says 'Wow! Donut seeds!"

Aerith retorted, "You googled that up."

Yuffie defended her joke by saying, "I didn't! It came from my own head!"

"Aerith, don't fight with Yuffie, you know she's sensitive," Leon stated.

Through the mirror, I could see Yuffie blushing. "I am not sensitive!" She was so defensive; it was hilarious! We all had a good laugh. It ended when we arrived to the national park. But- wait! What about my ice cream?!

"Guys, I forgot to mention that I spilled my ice cream in Leon's Silverado earlier!"

Leon reassured me with his hand on my shoulder "Kairi, I knew this would happen. So, I kept some ice cream from last time." I look down at my feet. Am I that predicable? "Should I repay you?" He leaned closer to me like he wanted to kiss me. "You could by doing this." I leaned in, but then I felt myself flip. Crap! I forgot that Leon takes karate. I swear I landed on my head and almost broke my neck. "Leon, that was unnecessary." Aerith nagged her nag. I didn't take it to heart though. Leon was always so unpredictable. It is a flaw he has and I accept it.

Leon reassured me by putting his hand on my shoulder "Kairi, I knew this would happen. So, I kept some ice cream from last time," he explained.

I look down at my feet. Am I that predicable? "Should I repay you?"

He leaned closer to me like he wanted to kiss me. "You could by doing this." I leaned in, but then I felt myself flip. Crap! I forgot that Leon takes karate. I swear I landed on my head and almost broke my neck.

"Leon, that was unnecessary," Aerith nagged her nag. I didn't take it to heart, though. Leon was always so unpredictable. It's a flaw he has and I accept it.

We finally got settled on our little picnic table. There were all kinds of kids playing in the background. It was one of those summer days were it was so harshly hot outside in the afternoon and then it cools down in the evening. It wasn't too cold; it was just the right temperature. It's the kind of summer evening when the hottest song of the season plays in your head while you watch that sun go down. With the rural area, the birds singing, the laugh children, it is the best moment of your life. Yuffie, I guess, got tired of sea salt ice cream "Kairi, when could you make a different kind of ice cream? We've had this kind all summer!" I shook my head. Gee, I never thought about it. I told Yuffie "Before we know it, school will start. Another ice cream flavor would be the least of our worries." Leon licked his ice cream thoroughly "Which reminds me, we should pick up our uniforms tomorrow." Aerith nodded in agreement "People usually get the cleaner uniforms if they get theirs earlier." I know nothing about that. I just went with it.

We finally got settled on our little picnic table. There were all kinds of kids playing in the background. It was one of those summer days where it's so harshly hot outside in the afternoon and then it cools down in the evening. It wasn't too cold; it was just the right temperature. It was the kind of summer evening when the hottest song of the season plays in your head while you watch the sun go down. With the rural area, the birds singing, the laughing of children, it could be the best moment of your life.

Yuffie, I guess, got tired of sea salt ice cream "Kairi, when could you make a different kind of ice cream? We've had this kind all summer!" I shook my head.

"Gee, I never thought about it," I told Yuffie, "Before we know it, school will start. Another ice cream flavor would be the least of our worries."

Leon licked his ice cream thoroughly and added, "Which reminds me, we should pick up our uniforms tomorrow."

Aerith nodded in agreement. "People usually get the cleaner uniforms if they get theirs earlier."

I know nothing about that. I just went with it.

Before we took off to my place, we decided to take a walk. It was so nice, we couldn't resist. As we walked down a path, a giant pit bull dog came out of nowhere and tackled me. "Where have you been all of my life?" I asked sarcastically as if I had a crush on him or something. It seemed like the only concept this dog knew was licking faces. He wouldn't stop licking me! While he was at it, he sniffed my breath. "Gee, mr. dog, I didn't know you were expecting a kiss. I mean, I am so stupid, I forgot to bring breath mints." That was another sarcastic remark. Leon laughed, punching Yuffie on the shoulder playfully "She's funnier than you!" Yuffie lost her spotlight. I didn't mean to intrude it.

Before we took off to my place, we decided to take a walk. It was so nice; we couldn't resist. As we walked down a path, a giant pit bull dog came out of nowhere and tackled me. "Where have you been all of my life?" I asked sarcastically as if I had a crush on him or something. It seemed like the only concept this dog knew was licking faces. He wouldn't stop licking me! While he was at it, he sniffed my breath. "Gee, Mr. Dog, I didn't know you were expecting a kiss. I mean, I am so stupid, I forgot to bring breath mints." That was another sarcastic remark.

Leon laughed, punching Yuffie on the shoulder playfully, "She's funnier than you!" Yuffie had lost her spotlight. I didn't mean to take it from her.

We all were exhausted after that long walk. We collapsed inside Leon's Silverado and moved out. Going down my road, I could see red and blue lights flashing. What's going on? I can hear sirens. It can't be. My parents are innocent! But when I actually got to see the police car, I see my parents weren't accused of a thing. My house was burnt. It was the house I grew up in. My dream home, my memories, my hangout. It's all gone. I saw some police lady stand out there, taking notes. There was no sign of my parents. I don't know what's going on, but it looks brutal. The lady gestured Leon to get out. He did and they had a conversation that seemed like it took a year. When they let me out, she explained everything.

We were all exhausted after that long walk. We collapsed inside Leon's Silverado and headed out. Going down my road, I could see red and blue lights flashing. What's going on? I could hear sirens. It couldn't be. My parents are innocent! But when I actually got to see the police car, I saw that my parents weren't accused of a thing. However, my house was burnt. It was the house I grew up in. My dream home, my memories, my hangout…it's all gone. I saw some police lady stand out there, taking notes. There was no sign of my parents. I didn't know what's going on, but it looked brutal. The lady gestured Leon to get out. He did and they had a conversation that seemed like it took a year. When they let me out of the car, she explained everything to me.

It was a bombing. Some mysterious man came to my house, pretending he was a pizza delivery person. He killed my parents and bombed the house, leaving all evidence behind. I glare at that pile of ashes that was once was my home and I cry in my own misery. The sky cries with me in the form of rain. This better not be real. Somebody pinch me. Then, I said it "somebody pinch me!" I was all over the ashes. I could see Aerith's and Yuffie's faces turn long. Nothing is going right. Nothing's okay.

It was a bombing. Some mysterious man had come to my house, pretending he was a pizza delivery person. He killed my parents and bombed the house, leaving all the evidence behind. I glared at that pile of ashes that was once was my home and I cry in my own misery. The sky seemed to cry with me in the form of rain. This better not be real. I wanted somebody to pinch me. Then, I said it, "Somebody pinch me!" I was all over the ashes. I could see Aerith's and Yuffie's faces lengthen. Nothing was going right. Nothing's okay.

 **Okay, well there is my attempt to make things deeper. I hoped you guys liked it. Tell me what you think :3**


	2. What am I going to do?

**I owe this improvement to my beta reader, FlowerLadyAerith. If it weren't for her pointing out my flaws, I wouldn't be here. ENJOY.**

Chapter 1: What am I going to do?

My home was gone. That shelter I once knew and never took grant had been demolished. My parents were the important factors. Why am I, out of all things, thinking about my house when I could be thinking about my beloved parents? All of this happened so fast. I never expected it. I don't think anyone did. Here I am, sitting in a rotting pile of ashes with my friends that I may never see ever again. I know I won't see my parents ever again. We were known as the Long family. Yes, my last name is Long. My parents were both "only children", so then, who am I going live with? What is going to happen to me? I knew that Aerith's family, Yuffie's family, and Leon's family couldn't take me in. We were all in sorrow, but the policewoman didn't seem like she cared a bit.

Nobody could say a word to this. I didn't know what was going on in anyone's minds. This awkward silence- No, this awkward sadness was so cruel, we couldn't say a thing. I guess I could look back, but that would scar me more than I have been already. Dad was some kind of traveler. He was paid for traveling around the world; I suppose he looked for artifacts. My mom was a nurse. They were two completely different people, but they were both madly in love with each other. It was something special. I guess it was a "Je ne sais quoi" (indefinable quality) that made Mom and Dad love each other so much. I couldn't believe that love was gone. Their love grew larger when I was born. I suppose your heart gets bigger when your family gets bigger. My grandparents have been dead for who knows how long. Mom and Dad wanted someone to care for; someone they could both create. It almost got bigger (she tried again after I was born) - But, my mom couldn't conceive. She tried so many times before I was born, also. She had to start fertility treatments and then I came out of nowhere after nine months. They called me the "miracle child".

But, where could I go for the next twenty-four hours before I have to go to the orphanage? Ironically, the policewoman asked me the same question. Aerith volunteered to be responsible for my actions for the next twenty-four hours. You're supposed to be eighteen to do so, but Aerith looks so lady-like, I suppose the police woman thought she was eighteen _._ Aerith signed all kinds of paper work and then Leon drove us home. I'd never been to Aerith's home, so I was curious what it was like. 'Kairi, how could you be thinking about that at a time like this?! Your parents are gone, and all you can think about is what does Aerith's house looks like?!' I face palmed and Yuffie noticed what I was doing.

"Kairi, don't be too hard on yourself. Otherwise, there won't be a Long family anymore."

I shook my head, "That was a bad joke, Yuffie."

Aerith and Leon both exchanged the same look; they were death stares as if they were saying "Do you want to beat up Yuffie when Kairi isn't looking?" I have to admit, I was a little infuriated with her.

After dropping Yuffie off, I arrived to my temporary home. As I got out of the vehicle, I noticed that this morning I had dignity. After what happened, I didn't think I had any more dignity. I just had this awful feeling at the pit of my stomach. It was so crazy; to think I was bubbly and excited for ice cream earlier and now I was a wreck. I felt like the world was going to fall harder than Rome did. It's such a thought to know that the two most important people in the world were demolished in smoke and ashes. I had nothing anymore. It all disappeared in the explosion. I haven't even stepped foot into Aerith's house and I was already falling apart. I felt the first salty tear come down my face as soon as my hand touched the door. Aerith was behind me and I turned to her. My voice cracked as I said, "I can't do this."

Aerith put her hand on my shoulder. "Kairi, I think you are strong. I know that this is a HUGE loss. But, this is just one of life's mountains to conquer."

The tears kept coming, but I went in the house anyway. It was a pretty fancy-looking setting. All the walls were painted red and there were some potted plants here and there. The house was pretty modern as well. They had a flat screen TVs and other things. "Since when did you live fancy like you are a millionaire?" I asked as we walked down the hall.

Aerith said, "I've lived here my whole life." She held the glass door to her room for me. My jaw dropped when I saw her bedroom. It was like she's a princess. She ha a canopy bed, a lot of space, a dresser with jewels and lots of little knick-knacks, a desk with her school books and things, and so much more that would take me until tomorrow to list. Aerith asked, "Do you like it?"

I jumped and exclaimed, "Do I?"

Aerith grabbed me by the hand, "Wait until you see the guest room." I have to admit, it was glorious. Aerith's room had pink walls and this one had blue ones. It was basically the same as Aerith's, but one detail made me so sad. It was a map of the whole world, like my dad used to carry. When I was little, he'd tell me about all the places he's been to. He used to tell me every single detail there was to each little town, each city. It looked exactly like dad's map. It made me want to go back to being a little kid again when I was careless and the world was so perfect. When you were a little one, the world seemed like it was full of wonders. You'd have such an imagination that took you everywhere and made you hungry for adventure.

It was getting late so Aerith gave me a night gown to sleep in. It was so silky. I'd never been in such silk. I couldn't wait to dive in that fancy bed. I jumped up and landed on the cushy cloud-like bed. It was just as soft as the gown I was wearing. I immediately drifted off to sleep, dreaming about my parents.

 **Kairi's full name is Kairi Long, just to be clear. I decided to add more than what I did so this story would make more sense**


	3. the funeral and goodbyes

**Howdy y'all! I'm here so let's get started, shall we?**

Chapter 2: The funeral and final goodbyes

My dreams seemed like they were way too short. As soon as the sun hit my face, I woke up in a puddle of tears. They were all over my pillow. Life was too tragic. I looked over at the grandfather clock sitting against the wall. It was seven in the morning. Sheesh, I thought I might as well sleep some more. I closed my eyes as I settled back into dreamland, but, that's when Aerith threw the doors open. "RISE AND SHINE, KAIRI! WE HAVE TO GET READY!"

Get ready for what, I would've asked, but my throat was too dry and sappy from all of those tears, so nothing came out. What do I wear, though? I could just wear what I wore yesterday, but where did my pink dress go? I sat it on the floor last night! How could Aerith expect me to get ready?

I walked down the cold halls barefoot. The floors were marble, and that made everything feel much colder. I felt like I couldn't talk. Where was the laundry room? That must be where my dress was. This house was so big; they could use a map. I finally reached the end of this hall and I found myself in a maze; there are three different paths and each of them were hallways! Could this get any more frustrating?! I took a deep breath and chose the center one. Before I could take a step, I heard, "Hey, Kairi."

I jumped higher than a Jack Russell Terrier could and screamed while I was at it. "WHAT?!" I found my voice finally.

Regardless of my hateful yell, Aerith replied in a cheerful voice, "Here's your dress." I nodded and turned to go down that hall again, but this time I wasn't alone.

"Thanks," I said in a dark tone.

Aerith looked at me, "Kairi, are you okay? You sound sick."

I nodded, "Allergies are getting to me, I guess. Fall is kicking in after all." I didn't want her to think that I'm weak, so I said that. To my surprise, she believed me.

Aerith nodded. "So, we are going to the funeral, and then we have to take you over to an orphanage."

I looked down at my feet. "Will I ever see you again?" Tears started forming in my eyes.

Aerith answered, "Perhaps so. But it is not certain because we didn't share a paopu fruit. So, maybe or maybe not."

I looked down again. "I was told you eat one with someone you are in love with."

Aerith nodded again and said, "That's true."

I was not in love with anybody at the moment. Leon was hot, but he wasn't my type. I just had my friends and things were simple and clean.

I got ready quickly and we (Aerith, her parents, and I) got in their car. We drove to Traverse Town's funeral home, which is about four blocks away. The drive was brief and silent. Nobody said a word as the radio played quietly in the background. I felt awkward getting out of the car, because everyone is dressed in black but me. I happened to just notice that Aerith and her parents were in black as well. My goodness, I wished I'd thought about this sooner, but what could I do? All of my other clothes were burned in my old house.

There were some long speeches about the bible and things, but finally I got to see my parents before they were going to be buried. I came up to both of them and said my final words to mom and dad separately. My final words to dad were, "Dad, you've been to many places. But I know your soul is venturing on. It is somewhere out there and I look forward to seeing you again when I die. I'll never forget those good times of how you used to rough house with me and when you would play jokes on me. I will try my best to carry on your humor." I kissed him on the cheek. A tear ran down my face, showing one percent of my sorrow and despair.

To mom, I said, "Mom, you may have not been as funny as dad, but I'll carry on your determination in life like you did. Remember when our neighbor said you couldn't stuff a hundred cheetos in your mouth, but you did? Everyone underestimated you and I'm prepared to be treated the same. You were a wonderful mother and I hope I'll be like you." I kissed her on the cheek. That's when I lost it completely. A storm of tears flooded my face. If I had anymore tears, I'd probably flood the funeral home. We had our moments of silence and what not then they finally buried the two down in the ground where nobody would see their bodies ever again.

It was so hard to believe I was the only Long left. I supposed that I'm pressured to have lots of kids now, but I couldn't think of the future. It was too upsetting to know that my parents wouldn't be able to support me. I wondered how I was going to go to college. Oh, who cares about that?! I just wanted to scream for my mom and dad like I was able to when I was a toddler. I remembered when I'd see a bear (specify a location here); I'd run to dad and hug him. I felt so protected in his embrace. I wished I could hold onto that feeling forever. Nothing lasts forever, though.

The funeral flew by and I had to start saying farewell to everyone before going to the orphanage. I pretty much had a farewell party and everyone from my school was there. It was fun, but I was mostly in tears thinking about what would happen in the evening. We exchanged phone numbers and I wondered how I was going to keep up with all of them. There were lots of gifts for me like clothes, perfume, and other necessities. I guess I don't need to go shopping anymore. This setting looks so colorful and happy, with the nice picnic area and pink banner that says "We'll Miss You, Kairi!" and gifts spread around, but I feel so empty . You'd think this would make me smile, but it barely made me smirk.

Yuffie, Leon, and Aerith were the ones that stayed with me the longest. We had such a close childhood. We all met in kindergarten and our friendship was immediately something special; it may shatter to pieces now. I felt so torn.

Aerith gave me a poem that she wrote. I forgot that she had writing skills. It said:

 _You'll never be too far from me,_

 _No matter where you go or what you see._

 _Each star shows our sadness,_

 _While each nobody won't have any gladness._

 _The heartless can't attack the light from our friendship_

 _Because our memories are connected no matter the time skip._

 _It don't matter if one of us turn our backs,_

 _We won't be able to leave our paths._

 _I'll miss you, that is true_

 _Now tell me you'll miss me too._

 _This is not goodbye,_

 _But you have to leave, why?_

The poem didn't make me feel any better; it just made my agony worse. I'll never be the person I was before all of this. I just can't be that Kairi that made ice cream and outsmarted anyone. This chapter of my life felt like nothing but a sad song played on repeat. Leon even cried. I'd never seen him cry. I thought he was too tough to show his true feelings. Really, being the guy of the group, he thought he could look tough. Either that, or he doesn't isn't sensitive. I guess I was important to him after all of these years. I saw him shut out everyone else and left the setting. I followed after him, not telling Aerith or Yuffie anything.

"Leon?"

"Kai-," He sat down at a nearby bench, putting his face in his hands, not showing his tears.

"Leon," I repeated as I took a seat next to him, "Don't cry,"

"Why? You're leaving," He showed his tearful face to me.

"I know," I sighed, "But, you have to realize that this is inevitable. I'm only going two districts over,"

"Yeah, but," he sniffled, "What if you leave for good, like your new parents are from another world?"

"Well," I couldn't answer that one. I knew his parents couldn't pay for a rental Gummi ship, let alone tickets to an airplane ride.

"Please," I said as tears filled his eyes again, "Don't cry. I'll be sad too."

"Yeah, sorry," He sighed.

"No need to be sorry," I smiled in a reassuring way that made him smile back.

"Now, be the man you are," I winked.

Leon cracked a grin and chuckled under his breath, "I will. Promise that you'll text me?"

"Yeah, I promise!" I hugged him, and he hugged me back.

What we didn't notice was Yuffie and Aerith watching us and taking pictures, giggling like fangirls in the process.

"HEY!" Leon became himself again and pushed Aerith and Yuffie into a nearby pond that was as shallow as a pond.

"Oh…." I watched them stand up and laugh.

I ran to them and said, "Group hug?"

"Group hug!" Yuffie joined in.

"Sure," Aerith smiled.

"Even though it is cheesy, I'll join you three," Leon awkwardly side-hugged us.

This little moment fixed Yuffie's speechlessness and Aerith's communication through text messaging. Believe me, I'm very torn and will be for a long time, but at least I could spare them some cheerfulness. Heck, even Leon is grinning.

But now I see that it wasn't not the same anymore. Nothing will be anymore. The very thought of this caused my heart to shatter.

Later…

I settled into the car as the sun went down. I thought I should just curl up in a ball and die. Kill me now! Just do it! Well, life doesn't work that way. The moments of silence continued, though. Nobody had any words to say. I'd love to scream right now, but I would just interrupt their 'precious' moment of silence. The "old me" wouldn't mind talking up a storm, but now I didn't give a crap about what happened.

 **Well then, another day, another chapter. I tried exaggerating her feelings. I am not good at goodbyes, so I didn't do much on that. Next chapter we'll get to see what the orphanage is like!**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	4. The Ophanage

**I am back after a while. So, I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

Chapter 3: The Orphanage

Some lady took me away from Aerith's house to take me to an orphanage for girls. Not a foster home, an orphanage. This lady was kinda odd, but I didn't say anything about it. She walked with me down a sidewalk and she kept her eyes ahead. She kept a straight face for so long, I couldn't understand. On top of that, she was listening to Elvis on her mp3 and she smelled like tuna. She might be a cat lady. Who knew? I didn't, obviously.

We finally arrived. She held open the door of this big brick building for me. I looked around the inside of the place. Well, it looked like a bourgeois (middle class) home to me. It reminded me too much of my home, which was now in ashes. There was a black leather couch against the wall. Across from it, on the other wall, was a window. The ceiling had a fan on it. A television was sitting on a bamboo entertainment center next to the window. There was a staircase straight across the front door. A kitchen was to the left of the couch (In my angle, anyway. If I had been sitting on it, it would be to the right). I could smell croissants. I haven't had one of those in years.

The weird lady entered and we sat on the couch while waiting for the head mistress. I hoped she was nice. I sat their patiently, enjoying the sweet scent of the buttery croissants. I liked them warm. I could taste them now. An old lady approached the room. She seemed kinda sweet. I hoped she was not an orphan. She would be way too old. "Hello, I am Maddie, the Head Mistress." Maddie held her hand out so I could shake it. Okay, so far so good. The weird lady handed Maddie the papers and then left the orphanage with this statement: " Ich bin froh, dass ich verlasse dich."

What was that supposed to mean? It sounded like gibberish to me. She really was an odd ball. Maddie grabbed my hand and said, "Come, I want to show you the other girls." We went upstairs and Maddie was literally squeezing my hand. The old me would slap her, but now I just went with the flow. We finally made it to the top of the stairs. The bedroom had six beds. Three beds were against the wall and three were across from those. They had plaid covers on them. I could tell this place had a low income. Maybe Maddie knitted the covers herself.

"Girls, I want you to meet Kairi Long, the new girl." The new girl? What am I, refreshed, reborn, or out-of-the-box? This lady was almost as weird as the tuna-eating-Elvis-lover. Whatever. The other girls nodded, looking at each other. Maddie continued, "You guys mingle while I get the croissants out of the oven."

I just stood there, with the five others staring at me. How could I make a good impression? Well, I couldn't say, "Hi, I am Kairi," because Maddie already introduced me. "Hi, where do I sleep?" I asked. Wow, that's a great way to introduce myself. I face palmed. The other girls started laughing.

"It's okay, it's hard introducing yourself because Maddie does all the work for you." A blonde walked up to me. "I'm Alice. Nice to meet you. What caused you to come here?" she asked me.

I looked down at my feet. Why did I always have to explain this? I sighed. You gotta do what you gotta do, I thought. "My parents…. Well, didn't make it." There. That's better than saying, "MY PARENTS DIED!" in a cheerful tone.

Alice nodded and explained, "At least you met your parents. Mine left me when I was born. I lived in Wonderland and then the Queen considered me a runaway. She didn't know what actually happened. But, whatever."

I nodded, understanding the concept. I never liked royals. They seemed…stuffy? Snooty? I didn't know how to put it, but it started with an "s".

Alice turned to the others. "Guys, make Kairi feel at home. Come on, talk to her." The other girls walked to me and they all told me their "back stories" or pasts. The first one was a fairy, and I couldn't understand a word she was saying. Her voice sounded like bells.

"That's Tinker Bell. She got lost and ended up here." Alice explained.

The next one said, "Hi, I am Princess Belle. I was an adult, but someone accidently turned me into a thirteen-year-old and my father can't find me, so I am stuck here." Tinkerbell rolled her eyes. I guessed she did it. I thought I had seen these girls somewhere before. Well, three down, two to go.

"Greetings, I am Namine. I have no idea how I got here." She was a blonde, like Alice, but she seemed shyer.

Then, a three-year-old walked up to me and asked, "Who are you?"

I said, "I am Kairi. Pleased to meet you." I tried to get to the level of her height.

"Stop trying to be a gnome," she said. She had an attitude.

"Well, missy, what's your name?" I asked.

She jumped up, "I am Aika. Now get out of my face." I turned away.

"Okay Aka," I said.

She screamed, "It's Aika, not Aka!"

I shook my head. I sat on a bed and said, "Do we have assigned beds or…."

Belle shook her head and said, "No, so it doesn't matter to us."

"Well, does Maddie always make croissants?" I asked.

Tinkerbell was ding-a- linging a storm. Namine translated, "She likes throwing each girl off. She's not an old lady. She doesn't bake either."

I cocked my head, "What do you mean?"

Alice replied, "Sorry to break it to you, but this head mistress is actually an evil witch named Maleficent. She learned shape shifting and she's been doing this every time a girl comes or goes, to look innocent to everybody else. She makes us clean the house and will snap at you if you object."

Well, what I could do? Pretend I fell asleep and that I didn't hear this? But, I didn't. The new me told myself, "Just act like a normal person".

Belle stated, "We did all of our work already, so tomorrow is when you will get to do chores." It was getting dark outside so I decided to turn in.

"Well, guys, I am turning in. Good night." I yawned.

I heard Aika yell, "It's about time you shut up!" She was such a spoiled brat.

 **Aika is an OC. I think there aren't enough female characters in Kingdom Hearts. I want to save some more for later. This orphanage is just the beginning. By the way, " Ich bin froh, dass ich verlasse dich." Means "I am glad I am leaving you." in German. That lady is mean, don't ya think?**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	5. Maleficent is Odd

p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"strong span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Here is the next chapter! Life has been getting to me a lot lately. Well, enjoy!/span/span/strong/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Chapter 4: Maleficent is Odd/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"As soon as I saw daylight, I knew today would be my first official day here. I stretched and yawned, feeling like a slug that could barely move. I was so stiff. I thought it could be from stress. Nevertheless, the others were still asleep in their beds. I looked around. Nothing. I wondered if Maleficent or "Maddie" was awake. I rose and exited the room. I look around the cold hallways and finally found my way downstairs. I didn't see a single soul. What time was it? I looked over to the clock on the wall. It was 7:30 AM. That's odd. I didn't usually wake up this early! It was a Sunday, so I didn't know what was going to take place. I didn't know what to do, so I sat around. There was silence besides the ticking clock. /span/spanspan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Tick tock tick tock./span/spanspan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;" The silence broke when I heard a voice screaming "AHH! A SPIDER!" it sounded like it was coming from the staircase. I could hear footsteps hit the staircase. It appears to be Aika. Now I knew how to get back at her./span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"I walk up to her, "Aw, what's wrong little baby? Afraid of spiders?" Aika's face wrinkled as her anger grew; I carried on, "You're just scared of your own shadow, now aren't you?" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aika jumps. "What?! I am not!" she objected while slapping me. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""Ow!" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Just when I said that, Maleficent (as Maddie) came through the door. "Where were you?" Aika asked suspisciously. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"She stood there and came up with an excuse. "Well…I was buying more croissants…" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"I accused her of lying by saying, "Well, miss Maddie, where are your grocery bags?" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"She stuttered, "I- Well- You see-"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aika shook her head, "Cough it up already, would ya?" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maleficent sighed, "Fine. Kairi, I will have you know…I was on a date with an old guy across the street." /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Wait, you gotta be joking. I thought Maleficent was spilling the beans about her true form. Apparently not. I laughed hard, not containing myself, "Who has dates this early in the morning?!" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maddie got mad. "Don't get on my bad side like Alice or you'll scrub the toilets!" she threatened. Really? That was her punishment? /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"I wanted to laugh more, but I sighed and looked down at my feet, "Yes, Maddie." I went up the stairs and found that every other girl was awake. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""Good morning," Belle said while brushing Namine's hair. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Namine then noticed that I came in. "Hello, Kairi." She's brushing Alice's hair while Alice is doing Tinkerbell's hair. It was a train of salons and hair-dos, I supposed./span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""So, what do you guys normally do for chores?" I asked, not making any comments about the "train" they had going on there. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"That's when Aika came in. "Stupid Maleficent," she said under her breath, kicking her bed. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""What is it this time?" I could hear Alice's annoyance in her tone. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aika pouted, "I asked for a unicorn, but then she slapped me with some laser." /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Namine shook her head, "Maybe if you weren't so stubborn, you'd-"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;" span style="font-size: 13pt;"Aika shouted, "I HAVE LOOSENED UP YOU WINGNUT, NOW SHUT UP!" For a three year old, she had some vocabulary. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""Anyway, what chores do we do?" I asked again. Tinkbell pointed to the wall next to her. There was a piece of paper taped on the wall where the chores were listed./span/span/p  
ul  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Chores/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Sweep every single floor/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Feed the dragon/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Leave the boxes in the basement alone or the head mistress will kick you out/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Clear the dragon's den/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Scrub the toilets (Alice only)/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Wash the dishes/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Hand feed Maleficent grapes (Saturdays only)/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Buy croissants (when needed)/span/span/li  
li/li  
lispan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Massage Ursula when she visits/span/span/li  
/ul  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Well, those were some weird chores, if I do say so myself. Some of them were like rules, not chores. I turned to Belle "She has a dragon?" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Belle nodded and asked, "You didn't know that?" /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"I shook my head. "Why do we hand feed the head mistress? When does Ursula visit?" I asked. /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Alice stood up and stated, "Maleficent likes to be treated like a queen. And, Ursula only comes when there is a poker night in Traverse Town. Maleficent thinks she's annoying and talks too much. So, we occupy her by massaging her to sleep. Then Maleficent sends her back to Atlantica with magic." Who was that witch fooling? She's obviously not an old lady! She even put her own name on the chores list. It was best not to think about it I supposed./span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""Breakfast!" I heard Maleficent shout. We all rush down the stairs. It didn't smell too good. The smell made me want to hurl! What was she making? "I made an octopus stew. Isn't that great?" Maddie asked. I just wanted to walk up to her and say /span/spanspan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;""I know who you/span/span span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"are and I know what you're up to."/span/spanspan style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;" But, I didn't. I just sat there, staring at the ugliness she just cooked. Who eats this for breakfast? /span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Namine whispered in my ear, "This food is to keep Ursula away. Ursula is really against cannibalism." I shook my head. This lady had some issues./span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"As the day went on, I saw her talking on the phone, in German. The conversation went like this:/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maleficent: "Haben Sie einen gefunden, um der Leiche loswerden?"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Other person: "Nein, weil Sie verboten den Zauber auf einem Sterblichen zu tun und ich denke, Flora beobachtet mich."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maleficent: "Du Narr, ich werde darum kummern mich!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Then Maleficent hung up. She sounded pretty furious. I wondered what this all meant. I googled it and the conversation meant:/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maleficent: "Have you found a way to get rid of the dead body?"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Other person: "No, because you are now forbidden to do magic on a mortal and I think Flora is watching me."/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Maleficent: "You fool, I will take care of this myself!"/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"What did it mean? What dead body? Did it have to do with those boxes we couldn't move? I needed to get down to that basement! But, how? I mean, I didn't even know if we were allowed down there. I would figure it out somehow. On top of that, I had school tomorrow. Uggg…/span/span/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"strong span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Looks like we have a mystery arising! What do you think happened? Find out next chapter!/span/span/strong/p  
p style="margin-top: .19in; margin-bottom: .19in; line-height: 100%;"strong span style="color: #000000;"span style="font-size: 13pt;"Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith/span/span/strong/p 


	6. The First Day is Always the Hardest

**I can't wait to write this chapter! Kairi's first day of school. Yay!**

Chapter 5: The First Day is Always the Hardest

I had a somewhat okay history in school. I hadn't gotten into trouble, but the cheerleaders always seemed to hate me. Probably because Leon was my friend and they all thought Leon was hot or something. Usually when you are with a guy, that's when they get jealous. Nobody believed me when I told them that the cheerleaders wrestled me for Leon's number. So, I thought it was better to avoid cheerleaders and boys at this school. I still felt a little scared.

To calm my nerves, I listened to J-pop on my phone while I rode the bus. Namine sat with me. High school. Yay. This high school was in the third district, which was far larger than the first district where I used to live. There would be more kids and more drama. Double yay. I let out a huge sigh and Namine looked over to me. "Are you alright? You seemed talkative yesterday. Now you are kinda…what's the word…quiet? Tense?"

I smiled, just to lighten things up. "I just have the first-day-of-school-jim-jams," I explained.

Namine cocked her head, "Jim jams?"

I laughed. I knew to expect that reaction from a person that lives in the third district of Traverse Town. "It is just another way to say hee bee jeebees or whatever you call them," I further explained.

Namine nodded in understanding. Then she began sketching six princesses. One looked like Alice. Speaking of Alice, she was sitting across from us with Belle. Aika was not old enough for school yet, thankfully.

"Where's Tink?" I asked Belle.

"They don't allow fairies at these schools. She has to go to a fairy school in Neverland," she answered.

"Oh." I said, "Which school are you guys going to?"

"The middle school," Alice replied casually. Ah, middle school. I still remembered those days. That was when I was "looking for myself". I will have to do that all over again now that I am going to a new school. It's bigger and probably has more boys and more cheerleaders. Why did my parents die? Why did this happen? Who was that fake pizza man? What kind of bomb was it? I never got a word from the police on any of the details even though they promised me that they would tell me as soon as they figured it out. Oh well, c'est la vie (That's life).

We arrived at the high school. I got off of the bus and looked up toward the sky. The school was huge! What if I got lost? What if I tripped over something? What if I mixed up my classes? "You'll do fine." I heard Namine say. I doubted it. She walked me to the principal's office so I could get my schedule. Maddie- oh I mean Maleficent- had already went to registration for me. That made things a little easier.

Namine knocked on the door of the principal's office. I heard a voice say "Enter." Namine opened the door and held it for me. I entered and she followed in after me. A silver-haired man with tan skin was sitting at the desk and instructing us to have a seat. There were two chairs seated in front of his desk, so Namine and I both sat down. I looked at his name tag. Xemnas. Heh. I just came up with the coolest thing. If you arranged the letters of his name, you would get, "Man Sex".

The silver-haired man asked, "Now, what did you visit me for?"

Namine gestured to me. "I brought the new student, Kairi Long."

Xemnas shook my hand and said, "Oh, yes. The new girl." Why did everybody keep calling me that? "Thank you, Ms. Crawford. You may go to class."

Namine nodded, "Yes sir." and left. I didn't know her full name is Namine Crawford. That would be a fraction of last names I would have to remember. I supposed Xemnas went by his first name. He handed me my schedule and stood up.

"Would you like a tour of this school?" he offered.

I shook my head, "I think I'll be fine."

He replied, "Very well. Enjoy your first day." He smirked. This was scaring me more.

I hurried and exited the office. I looked down at my schedule. Great! My first class was gym. As soon as I found my way to the gym, I went to the teacher. He had reddest hair I had ever seen and I thought my hair was really red.

"Excuse me, Mister…"

He immediately answered, "Axel. Just call me Axel."

I hesitated, "Okay, Axel, how does this class work?'"

He shook his head and asked, "Are you new?"

I nodded, "Yes sir." He pointed toward the locker room. "Go in there and put some gym clothes on. We have a locker waiting for you." I blushed. Nobody had arranged stuff like this for me before.

After I put my awkward gym clothes on (The shorts were really short!), I sat down on the bleachers with some girls. For some reason, I heard boys giggling. What? Did I put my head in my shirt sleeve again? I looked down. Nope. Maybe they were just being boys. "Hi," I heard a voice. I turned around. A brunette was greeting me. "I am Olette. So, you are the new girl, right?" she asked.

I nodded and stated, "Yeah. But I wish people would take the trouble to figure out my name."

She then asked, "What's your name?"

I almost forgot my name; my response was: "It's uhh… K-K-K- Kairi! Yeah! That's it!"

Olette nodded, "Ah, the nautical mile,"

"A wha?"

She laughed, "That's what your name origin is." Either she was a nerd or a person who snuck their phone to google things up.

"How did you know this?" I asked.

She calmly replied, "I read a lot. I am kinda nerdy…That's why I don't have many friends yet."

I offered her my friendship, "Nerds are cool. Count me as your friend!" Olette smiled at me.

Then, class started. "Alright, kiddos," Kiddos? Is that what he called us? Just go with it, Kairi…. "Time to run ten laps and then we will do some fencing." The boys were the first to run down the bleachers. Olette and I slowly walked down them. There were other girls, but I thought I would prefer to meet them later. As I ran, I thought about the dead body incident. Maleficent couldn't do magic on humans/mortals. I wondered how that came to be. I decided to start cracking at the mystery at home after finishing all of my chores (which are weird). I knew maleficent was bad, but I didn't know how treacherous she was. Her level on the treachery scale wass pretty high. I wondered who she killed. I wondered if King Mickey had something to do with this…and, if that tuna lady was the only one in her little circle of secrets? There were so many questions spinning in my head. I could have probably fainted. As a matter of a fact, I did faint. I had been sweating so much and all of the stress was pressing down on me. Everything was black and I had a nauseated feeling.

I suddenly came to consciousness in some kind of nurse's office. The first thing I spotted was a duck. A duck was taking care of me? What the heck? Well, we had a mouse as a king, so I really should expect animals everywhere.

"Are you feeling any better, sweetie? I know the first day is tough and-"

I interrupted her, "Hold on- what exactly happened?"

The female duck said, "Axel told me you were running and suddenly fainted. When was the last time you ate?"

I thought back and realized I hadn't eaten today. "Last night," I replied. The duck nodded and wrote it down. The duck was wearing a purple bow and too much makeup. Her name tag said, "Daisy Duck". It made sense.

"Well, have you been stressing much?" I nodded and told her all that happened with my parents, but I didn't mention Maleficent and her wild story. Daisy told me I was fine and that I could go eat lunch with my peers. I entered the huge cafeteria. There was chatter going on about the room. Lots of side conversations and whispering happened as I walked by. I wondered what these people are up to. I looked for Namine or Olette. Luckily, they were sitting together. My friends were friends with each other. That would make things a little easier I supposed.

"Hey," Namine greeted, "Have you heard about that Roxas kid? He's so hot!" I thought Namine's eyes were making some kind heart shape, like in anime. It seemed I was living in an anime, so I should soon expect people to eat souls and have weird hairstyles.

As soon as I got a hotdog and some curly fries, I sat back down and I yelped out, "I am starving!" From across the room, I heard a boy say the exact same statement. My face reddened and I asked, "Who's that?"

Olette answered in a matter of fact tone, "That's Sora. He is such a goofball."

Sora. I bet if I looked that up in the Urban Dictionary, it would say, "Spiky ball of derp". He was kinda cute; I let out a heartfelt sigh. It was love at first sight. I have always been a hopeful romantic, because most girls didn't fall for Sora's type. Well, I was a desperate romantic.

At that moment, some boy walked by me and 'accidentally' spilled his drink on me. The kid tried to make it obvious by shouting, "OOOOPPPSSS!" Everyone saw me and I tried to laugh it off to show them I was tough, but my laughter soon turned to tears. The kids skipped away as if nothing happened. I would get my revenge on that chubby boy in the red jersey.

Namine shook her head, "I should have warned you of Pence. He is quite a prankster." I swear, my face could fry an egg in two seconds because I was so mad. Pence. I would remember that name. Pence was such a pain!

 **I thought it would be good to stop it here.**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	7. The Basement

**I have returned to write my own story that is weird on different terms….. Anyway, let's get to it.**

Chapter 6: The Basement

After I got myself cleaned up, I went to Algebra, which was quite easy for me. I had a really bubbly teacher named Ariel. She was not bubbly in personality; she literally blew bubbles every second. She left us a problem on the board. It told us to find areas on these triangles. The formula was 1/2 times base times height, or 1/2xBxH. We all sat in individual desks in this class thankfully. In middle school, we had to sit in groups in just about every class for some reason. I always sat with obnoxious boys, because all of the other seats were taken. Now, sitting in this school, I found it odd that we had a mermaid (who is now a human) as a teacher. I was surprised she was not using sailor terms like Jack Sparrow, who was the other Algebra teacher.

The class was pretty big, not to mention that there were more boys than girls. I could list a couple of people in this class at the top of my head: Pence (grrr...), Namine, Sora (…sigh), and Roxas. This was only my first day and I could already point out some people. That's awesome! I hope I didn't get involved with any cheerleaders. Well I haven't…yet! I hoped I didn't jinx myself. Nevertheless, Ariel was making us do a project with a partner. We didn't get to pick our partners by choice. We drew pieces of paper with names on them out of a box.

Ariel called people out in alphabetical order so they could draw a name. First, Ariel called for Pence Adwell. He drew his paper, opened it, and then sighed in relief. I guess he didn't get a cheerleader. I could hear some unfamiliar names get called. Then, Namine was next (because she's a Crawford). More names pile up until I heard "Kairi Long, you're next." I stood up and I could feel everyone's breath on me. Was I really attracting that much attention? I tried to keep my Savoir Faire (Composure). I finally put my hand in the box. I opened the piece of paper; my hands were shaking in the process. My partner was Sora McCoy. I blushed a little. I hoped he didn't slack off like every other boy I had partnered with.

When all partners were arranged, Sora smiled and waved at me. I put my head on my desk. Everyone noticed. After class, Namine and some other girls I had never met started saying, "Sora has a crush on you" in a childish tone. It was only my first day. No one ever me liked that quick. I had never been noticed until today. To defend myself, I said, "No, he doesn't. Sora is just that perky."

I could feel my face heat up. They could tell I was just making up stuff.

A girl asked, "Um, hello? Were you trying to be convincing?"

Another retorted in a sarcastic tone, "He totally just wanted to wave his hand for no reason."

Well, who cared what happened to me? They did, apparently. I had never gotten that much attention in my entire life. Well, I lived in the first district of Traverse Town (which is small) for a majority of my life. There was nothing back there and there was so much here (including a mad witch who has a dead body somewhere).

The rest of the school day went on and there wasn't anything worth mentioning. When I got off the bus, I crashed on my bed and fell asleep. When I woke up, it was about midnight. My mouth was so dry. I got up to get some water. That was when I heard a "bang" coming from underneath the floor. I looked down. Of course, there was nothing there. I opened every door until I found a staircase. The basement; the creepiest thing every house should have.

I went down the staircase with a flashlight, hoping no monster was out to get me. Wait- weren't we forbidden to be down there? Well, whatever. I felt like a preschooler because I was shaking hard. What is there to be afraid of? All I saw were boxes. That's when I suddenly remembered the chore list: Leave the boxes in the basement alone or the head mistress will kick you out. I didn't want to be a street rat like Aladdin. I was not going to touch them; I just wanted to know what made that noise. I saw boxes, rats, and… a dead woman? She looked so similar to my mother with her choppy dark brown hair and body type. My mom's body barely survived in a bombing and she just got buried. So, this couldn't be her! This lady was wearing scrubs. My mom wasn't a nurse either. I looked for a name tag. I found one and it said, "Mika Long". Wait a second- My mom's name is "Miki Long". Could this woman be my long lost aunt? No, she couldn't be! Mom and dad told me they had no siblings.

Now I had more questions. Who was this lady? Why was she here? Who killed her? Was this Maleficent's 'best' strategy of hiding a body? If this was my aunt, why did my mother lie to me? Does she (this lady) speak German? Who enabled Maleficent to do magic on humans/mortals? Who was Maleficent's 'team'? Where was this woman all of my life? Why doesn't she show any signs of physical damage? Why did I have so many questions?

I put my flash light on the floor. There had to be some leads somewhere. I avoided the boxes and the rats. There wasn't anything. This was probably why the boxes were forbidden to be opened. Maybe there was evidence inside that all this happened. "The boxes," a statement comes out of my mouth. After I said it, I felt something hit my back. I fell to the floor and fainted again.

 **I don't know anybody who faints twice in a day, do you? This is my first mystery, so I am pretty proud of myself.**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	8. The Mysterious Figure

**I finally came back to update this. Oh my gosh, it's been like, what? Nine hundred years? It felt like that anyway. XD**

Chapter 7: The Mysterious Figure

I tried to lift my head and regain my conscious, but I felt something weighing on top of my body. There was so much pressure; I couldn't move. The only thing I could do was blink. I blinked and of course, there was no effect. I tried to say, "What is this?" but it came out as "fhaf if fhif?!" Whoops. I hated it when nothing made sense. Considering I couldn't move, there was absolutely nothing I could do about this. Actually, I could lick whatever was on top of me, but it was so dark and I had no idea what this thing was! Should I take the risk of licking it? At this point, I was willing to do anything. I licked it and felt an electrical shock. "fhaf?" managed to come out of my mouth.

Then, a feminine voice called out "Aufenthalt aus diesem!"

I said "Fnaf" again, but I wished I could say, "Whhaaaaaattttt?" right now but I couldn't.

After that little sentence in German (I am assuming), a lecture comes on. This told me this is not Maleficent. The lecture went like this:

"Sie dumme gore!

Warum sind Kinder so neugierig?

Sie am besten aus dem Weg zu blebein.

Sie solten nur sterben wie diese Frau dort Druben!"

This was the voice of a woman I had never heard. She has an electoral shock. My life has been so weird lately. I blinked and I was trying to think of a way to get her off of me. Or, she maybe put a dark force field on me. I would say it was that because I was freezing. It felt like a dark, invisible box. All of a sudden, I was floating in midair. I was in the basement again. A blonde female in a black robe was standing right in front of me. She was holding knives, too. Should I run? She just stood there. Now, she wa speaking in a different language. She said, "Tu es penible." I wanted to walk through the walls right now so I could get out of this mess. Lightning came from above and I fell to the floor. Now my ear was killing me! Never mind that, I was about to die! Suddenly, my hands started glowing and a giant key appeared in them. What was this for?

Blondie shouted, "Foudre!" and lightning struck me. I dodged in a roll, but I was distracted by this giant key in my hand. It was so colorful and it couldn't have been for a door. I knew that, at least. The lady came running and hit me with her blue and yellow knives (which ironically matches her hair and eyes). I hit her with my key thing. It surprisingly hurt her. I guessed it was a weapon.

I noticed that I reacted to things faster. She throws lightning at me, and I dodged immediately. When she was not attacking, I attacked. This was getting really repetitive, so I jumped into one of the boxes. I tried to do one of classic cartoon bits where I pop my head out of different boxes at different times. But, that fails because this was reality. I danced around the lightning, because she was attacking faster and was attempting some kind of pattern. Was this a test or something? Did she know this was going to happen?

She started breathing heavily. We both were. My heart was racing, but I was not giving up. I think she gave up, though. She crashed on the floor and then disappeared. I was starting to think I should look up what she said to me, and resume this mystery solving tomorrow night. So, I went back to my room and looked up all of the phrases.

"Aufenthalt aus diesem!"" is "Stay out of this!" in German.

"Sie dumme gore!" is "You foolish brat" in German.

"Warum sind Kinder so neugierig?" is "Why are children so nosy?" in German.

"Sie am besten aus dem Weg zu blebein." Is "You best stay out of our way." in German.

"Sie solten nur sterben wie diese Frau dort Druben!" is "You should just die like that woman over there." in German.

"Tu es Penible." Is "You are annoying." in French.

"Foudre!" is "Lightning!" in French.

So, German wasn't the only language they spoke. There was French too. I wondered what other languages there were going to be and how many other people there were in this "group". The only people I knew of were: Maleficent, tuna lady, and the lady who just tried to kill me. I was starting to think this is all a set up. The lady that brought me here seemed peculiar. Lightning lady seemed to know I was coming down there and then popped out of nowhere. Maybe the pizza man was bribed by these women to kill my parents. This is just a theory, but it does make sense.

I collapsed on my bed, but I couldn't seem to fall back asleep. This was all going to my head and nobody in this orphanage knew about it except for Maleficent and I. I was still staying on my toes. Maybe somebody else would come attack me. This made me realize that my giant key had disappeared. Where did it go? Maybe it only came out when I needed it.

There were some things I needed to figure out. I sorted it into a list in my head:

Figure out who this crazy gang is.

Reveal the true identity of the killer of my parents and of that dead lady.

Find the story on how Maleficent (and maybe some other people) were banned from doing magic on mortals.

Come up with a way to pay attention in school while this is going on

I was currently staring at the ceiling in the dark. There were lots of images going through my head. They could mean nothing, although, I was seeing a lot of images of King Mickey. I was half asleep. The images were coming back and then leaving and then returning again. I finally fell asleep when the sun rose.

 **Hello everyone. Sorry for taking so long. I was in Florida for a week. I will get these chapters beta read soon by FlowerLady-Aerith. Check her out when you can!**


	9. The police station

**I am finally back.**

Chapter 8: The Police Station

I couldn't go back to the basement. Not today.

I barely slept last night. Waking up this morning for school was a pain. All the girls were shaking me and saying, "Kairi, time to wake up."

It didn't work until Aika got her turn and shouted, "How MANY TIMES DO WE HAVE TO SHAKE YOU? IT'S TIME FOR SCHOOL! WAKE YOUR BUTT UP AND GET READY. YOU'LL MISS THE BUS!" She startled me. I jumped out of bed instantly and got ready in a hurry.

On the bus, Namine seemed a little concerned about me. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied.

Namine gave me a suspicious look, "Kairi, I know you're lying. What's wrong?"

I tried to sound convincing, "Nothing,"

"Do you want me to change you into a Pinocchio so you would tell the truth?"

"Okay, fine. I am lying," I confessed.

"What's wrong, then?"

"It's just…." I hesitated. I didn't know whether I should told her or not. It was kind of a big deal. The body of a lady that looked like my mother was in Maleficent's basement. Just tell her. You can trust her.

"Can you keep a secret?" I asked cautiously.

"Sure. You can trust me."

"Even if the situation is against Maleficent's wishes?" I prodded.

"Yes, just tell me. I pinkie swear I won't say a peep about it."

"Okay." So, I told her everything. I looked down at my feet while I explained, not watching Namine's reaction to the story.

"Oh my gosh," she gasped. I looked up. "Are you sure it's not 'her'?" She was referring to my mom as 'her'.

"I'm very sure. I need to crack down some clues. So, I am going to the police station today to find the identity of the murderer of my mother," I explained. Namine nodded. "If anyone asks, tell them I am in tutoring," I instructed.

Namine nodded again and said, "I will."

At school, all the classes went by quickly with the exception of math class. I couldn't keep my eyes off of Sora. We were discussing our 'hodge podge math project', which was a project that allowed us to use any kind of math. We were allowed to make it into anything we wanted, and it wasn't due until next month. Sora was just so dreamy; I couldn't even pay attention.

"Uh, Kairi?"

I snapped out of my daydreams about him and responded with a, "Yeah?"

"Do you think we should make it into a song? I know you like to sing," Sora suggested.

I froze. "What are you? A stalker?" I accused.

"No, I have been observing you," he confessed.

I raised a brow. "Excuse me?"

"Nah, I'm just messing with ya. I was looking on Facebook and I found your profile. There were lots of videos of your singing. You're pretty good," he complimented.

I blushed, "Thanks."

"No problem. What do you say? Should it be a song or…"

"Yes!" I exclaimed.

"Okay then. I suck at math, so this is going to be difficult for me," he giggled.

"Ah, don't worry about it. It'll be a cinch. We can put extra time on this somehow."

"You should visit my place," he offered.

"Sure. When should we arrange this?" I asked.

"How about tomorrow? I'm not busy."

"Okay." I smiled. With that, class ended. Sora and I shared a nod. If I could fly, I'd do it now. I was going to visit the hottest guy in school!

As soon as I exited the class, I tripped over something. I heard laughing as I looked up from the floor. It was Pence! That son of a chainsaw was at it again! When would he stop? I had bad reflexes, so I just walked away. I didn't need to cause trouble like I did last school year. I was in lots of fist fights with the cheerleaders.

I ditched the bus and went to the police station. Surely, they must've figured out who that false pizza guy was by now. I entered the door without even laying a thought on knocking on it. A blonde with baggy pants looked at me. "Officer Cid at your service. May I help you?"

I nodded. "My name is Kairi Long. My parents were murdered by a fake pizza guy at a bombing of my house. I wanted to know if you could tell me who the man was," I explained.

Cid nodded and stated, "I do have information. Before I can say anything else, I'd like to see your school ID or driver's license." I hand him my driver's permit and school ID. Cid nodded in approval. "Very well. So, the pizza man is the identity you want me to reveal?"

"Yes."

"It was a man named Ansem Youngs. He was wanted in all three districts. It's surprising we didn't talk about him on the news," Cid revealed.

The information made me realize the town I lived in was crazy. Everyone was so ignorant, which was nothing I could change right now. I decided to ask another question "What happened to him? Was he arrested? Killed? Kidnapped?" More ideas left my lips and were made into words. Cid stopped me after I asked if he was a fugitive.

Cid replied with a grim look, "We killed him. We had no other choice. The police and I were worried that he would escape prison with magic."

"Thank you, Cid."

I exited after I gathered my IDs. Back at the orphanage, I heard Maleficient talking in German on the phone again.

"Wo ist Ansem? Er das letzte Treffen verpasst."

I couldn't hear the other end this time. All I could do was Google up the statement. It was: "Where is Ansem? He missed our last meeting." Now I was curious about when Maleficent leaves for these meetings and where the rendezvous (meeting place) were. It was just another question that had yet to be answered.

So, the information I've gathered so far is this:

Maleficent can't do magic on mortals

She's in some sort of club

This clubs has four known members so far

Each member speaks foreign languages

They somehow killed a lady that looks like my mom

This group killed my parents

That was a pretty good bit of info for me, I thought. When I entered the room, Belle asked, "How was your tutoring?" I was confused. What tutoring? I didn't stay at school for that. That's when I remembered this morning "If anyone asks, tell them I am in tutoring."

I answered, "It was very helpful." It seemed I was learning the skill of lying because they believed me.

Alice was doing her homework. It was the three math transformations: rotation, translation, and reflection. I remembered doing that; I hated it. Alice looked stressed. "I can't do this," she whined.

I sat next to her on a chair. "Well, show me which problem you are on," I offered. She pointed at a rotation problem. She had to rotate a square ninety degrees counterclockwise. I told her that the coordinates would change from (x,y) to (y,-x) and she got it. She made it into a statement, "Why, negative x?" We laughed together. She made the statement dramatic. After all of that, we had to hit the hay.

 **Finally, another chapter. A hint of Sokai will hit next chapter :3.**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	10. The project and Some Secrets Revealed

**Yes, I have updated** **this** **quickly….**

Chapter 9: The project and some secrets revealed

It is Saturday and I was free from school work. Today I was going to visit Sora. He gave me his address after school yesterday, and he doesn't live that far, so I can walk to his home. I told Maleficent I was going to my math club (as if). I didn't tell her where I was actually going because she'd probably think I'd be going on a date. It kinda is a date, isn't it? I've never heard of a study date before, though. Nevertheless, I arrived, shaking so much I could barely ring the doorbell. Instead of Sora answering the door, it was that lady who smelled like tuna. Am I at the right house? "Oh, uh….. Who are you?" she asked. Man, this is the first time I've heard her speak in English. "I'm Kairi…. I'm here to study with Sora." Her face changed from the "I don't care what happens' look to the shocked look, like she's thinking "I'm really ignorant."

"Come in," she let me in. "Sora is waiting for you upstairs." I walked in to the house, which is full of cats. I somehow knew she was a cat lady. I could barely walk to the staircase because all the cats were rubbing against me. I can't believe this is Sora's mom. He's hot and she's a freak. Well, not everything is perfect. I thought Sora would be one of those boys who lived with a rich family. As far as I can see, Sora's family is just as odd as Maleficent. As I walk throught the hall, I can see pictures of Maleficent, that blonde lady, tuna lady (Sora's mom), a man with dark skin and white hair (I am assuming this is Ansem), and two other people I've never seen. They're both males as well. One of them has blue hair and some scar on his forehead while the other has sideburns and is wearing an eye patch.

I am now questioning everything….. Does Sora know about this secret group of six? As I arrive to his room, I knock on his door. The door opens and I am greeted with a cheerful face. "Oh, Kairi! You're here! Come in, come in!" As I walk in, I look around. His room is spotless. I wouldn't expect that out of a boy. He sat on his bed and patted his hand on the spot next to him, indicating he wants me to sit there. I sit my butt on his bed and he says "So, what type of math should we do?" I started thinking about last night. When I helped Alice with her homework, we made it funny. "I think we should do it on transformations." He questioned my suggestion "Isn't that middle-schooled leveled math?"

"We're allowed to do any math we want. Besides, Pence and some other guy are doing addition." Sora made a remark to make it funnier "I guess they're five then," I laughed. I got some paper out and we started jotting down a song about the three transformations:

There are three transformations,

Translation, reflection, and rotation

We are here to sing

A song about how we should do this thing…

We finished the song a couple lines after that and Sora seemed surprised. "That was easy." I nodded. "I write songs all the time." Then there was some awkward silence. I didn't think this would help with my relationship with him at all, so I told him that I have met his mom before. "I've met your mom before." He blinked "Hm?" "The lady who answered the door, I've met her." Sora shook his head. "That's not my mom. My mom is in Vegas, probably getting drunk by now. That lady is my aunt Beth. I visit her when my mom travels." I nodded, showing I understood. Then, I told asked him who the people in the picture were. "Oh, that's my aunt's friends."

I drop the subject because his phone rang. "Oh, it's my girlfriend." Girlfriend? He has a girlfriend? I made an excuse to leave. "That's okay. I've gotta leave anyway." He turned over to me as I opened the door. "No! Don't leave! We were having a good time." I sit back down. He left the room so I couldn't hear his conversation. As soon as he came back, he said "Sorry I took so long. Xion likes to talk a lot." Xion. I think I've heard that name before. Isn't she in my English class? I recall that she is. "Oh, I know this because she's in my English class." Then Sora turned on his television on and asked "Do you wanna play 'Super Smash Bros?'" I jump at the chance. "Sure!"

I got creamed every round I played; I kept losing. Sora let me win once and then I said in a mocking tone "You just want me to feel like Mulan," Sora shook his head. "No, I swear! You beat me!" I threw a pillow at him. "Let's see if I can actually beat you in real life!" We had a pillow fight. All of a sudden, my giant key popped out of nowhere. "Woah," Sora looked amazed. "You have a Keyblade?" I nodded. "I have one, too!" His popped up. It looks much more different than mine.

I explained how I got mine. "Mine just came out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago… How did you get yours?" In a heroic pose, he said "I've had mine since I was born!" Then, I said "Let's fight in a safer way." I grabbed another pillow. Sora smirked and grabbed a pillow too. We fought around until we both fell on top of each other. His face was three feet from mine. If he were single, I'd kiss him, like in those movies. Of course, we both stood up and laughed nervously. It was getting pretty late, so I said goodbye. He didn't let me leave until I hugged him. He's so charming. We hugged and then I left. Walking home, I watched the sun go down. That's when Namine showed up.

"Hey, Kairi," Namine looked very bubbly. "Why are you so happy?" I asked. "Because Roxas asked me out!" She jumped. "That's great." I tried hiding my sadness. At least she has a chance with her crush. "How long have you known him?" I asked. "Since we were little; I've been an orphan for a long time." Then, we got to the orphanage. Her phone went off; she got a text from Roxas. She squealed. She texted him hours after hours. Gee, I didn't know you could talk to a boy for that long. I'm even more surprised her phone hasn't died yet. Belle questioned Namine's obsession with the phone. "What's with her?" I explained that she has a boyfriend now. Alice smiled. "That reminds me that Aika found a boyfriend somehow." Everyone but Namine were looking at Aika. "What are you looking at?" I needed an explanation for this. "You're not even in school and you're only two years old. How the heck did _you_ get a date?" Aika smirked. "I know people."

As soon as the lights went out, I gathered everything I know about the mystery (again).

Maleficent can't do magic on mortals

She's in some sort of club

This clubs has four known members so far

Each member speaks foreign languages

They somehow killed a lady that looks like my mom

This group killed my parents

One of the members has a relation to Sora (Which is pretty useful)

 **There is chapter nine for ya. What will Kairi do about Sora having a girlfriend? Will Roxas' and Namine's relationship go well? Will anyone get adopted?**


	11. The Interview

**I have nothing important to type….**

Chapter 10: Interview

I was beginning to think I was close to finishing this case. I mean, I had learned a lot already. Somehow, I thought I should interview Sora's aunt Beth. She was obviously involved with the group. Sora knew almost nothing about it. So, I didn't plan to bring this up to him. He might just think I was jumping to ridiculous accusations. I was not, but I could see him thinking that. Namine hadn't said anything about my secret, as far as I knew, which was pretty good.

I was sitting at a little desk in the bedroom in the orphanage on a typical Sunday, trying to think of a way to set up an interview. I could snoop in those boxes…. It was kinda risky. But, I liked risky.

Instead of snooping today, I decided to ring up Yuffie, because her dad was a magazine gossiper. A couple rings sounded and then I heard Yuffie's voice, "Sup, home fry?" She was always looking for a ridiculous way of greeting me; that's what I liked about her. I tried to slip her dad into the conversation casually, then getting to the point so I didn't scare her away.

"How's the family?" I asked after greeting her back.

"Pretty good," she said, pausing a moment, "In a few weeks, we're visiting Destiny Islands for a vacation."

"Sounds cool," I said.

"Yeah. But the worst part is that my annoying cousin Shiro is coming along."

"Okay. How bad can he be?"

"He thinks he's so funny…but he's not," Yuffie complained.

"I know someone like that." I rolled my eyes.

"Who?"

"You don't know her," I lied

"Well, okay then.

"Anyway, I've got a favor to ask you."

"Sure, anything," Yuffie agreed.

"I… was wondering if your dad could do the next "ew" article for this lady I know."

"Let me ask him."

I heard her drop the phone and then yell, "Dad!" After that, it was nothing but sound. I couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Hello?" Yuffie's dad picked up the phone.

"Hi," I said, ready to ask my question.

"So, you wanted me to do the next "ew" article on this lady. Who is she?"

I answered, "Her name is Beth McCoy and she lives in the third district of Traverse Town." Then, I gave him the address.

Then, he asked me just what I wanted to hear. "Is there any questions in particular that you want me to ask her?"

"Yes."

"State them, please."

"I've got more than one. Is that okay?"

"Go ahead," he urged.

"Okay, one: Is she in a group?"

"Mhmm," I could tell he was writing this down.

"Two: does she speak any other languages?"

"Yes, go on."

"Three: does she know Maleficent?"

"I've gotten that one down. Anything else?

"That's it," I concluded.

"Okay, . I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

"Hey, I'm back," Yuffie returned to the phone.

"Hey."

"I gotta go because I have to watch a stupid play. See ya later."

"Okay, bye. I'll see you around."

"Your fee is $22.45," Yuffie joked.

"Yuffie, this is NOT a payphone."

"You know I'm kidding."

"Right," I replied sarcastically.

I wondered how interview would go. I was hoping the answers would come to me that easily. Then again, I doubted it.

Nevertheless, a miracle happened; Aika got adopted. Now I wouldn't have that little pest yelling in my face or calling me a wing nut anymore. So, today was pretty relaxing. I was just waiting for the next issue of that magazine so I could see what tuna breath said. If that fell through, I'd have to take more risks, like going back to the basement. Maybe this time I wouldn't get attacked. Who knows? I knew I didn't.

What if you get adopted before you can solve this mystery? A voice in my head said. I ignored it.

Namine was gone because she was hanging out with Roxas. I'd hang out with Sora, but there were rumors on Facebook that he was going out with Xion tonight to a Chinese buffet downtown. I hoped they had fun…Who was I kidding?! If I heard "Xion" one more time, I'd scream! She was who everyone talked about. She was not a cheerleader, but she was fairly popular. Everyone liked her so much, she got to be homecoming queen since elementary school! How did I know this? Because she had pictures all over her fanpage! Yes, she had a stupid fanpage.

I supposed I was breathing too heavily, because Belle asked me if I needed a chill pill. I shook my head. That's when Alice turned on the TV, showing a Romantic Comedy. Oh, the irony. I laid my face in my pillow. The other two did their best to calm me down. They said things like, "There, there," or "Every little thing is gonna be alright." As if. They were pretty clueless.

I sat up on my bed and sighed. I really needed to keep my mind off of Sora. I turned on the radio. The song, "Tear Drops on my Guitar" came on. I turned it off in frustration. That's when Namine came back.

"Hey, guys!" she said in a bubbly mood.

"Hey," we all replied.

"I checked the mail and the next magazine came in!"

I grabbed it. "It came in that quick!?"

Namine cocked her head. "You know they do it once a month. It's been a month."

I giggled a little, "Oh yeah. Times flies when you're having fun, I guess."

I flipped the magazine open to page 35, which is where the "ew" article usually was. The caption said: Beth McCoy, the next nominee for being the "ew" Queen. I read through it. The Article said:

Our Next "ew" contestant is Beth McCoy, who lives in the third district in Traverse Town. This lady has 45 cats and didn't take the interview very well….Oh, Crap. I thought

Question 1: Are you in a group?

Answer: Das geht dich nichts an. (No one knew what this meant right off the bat, so we got the Google translator out.)

Answer means: ?

Questions 2: Can you speak other languages?

Answer: Beth doesn't state anything, but it's obvious.

Question 3: Do you know Maleficent?

Answer: Yes

Question 4: Why do you have so many cats?

Well, then. I knew this article wouldn't help. I chose the wrong questions. Of course, she wouldn't spill her secrets out in public. So, I guessed I was sneaking into that basement tonight. I wouldn't be paying attention in school tomorrow….

 **Well, Aika is out of the way and the interview didn't go well. Xion has a fanpage. What's up with that? The statement "Das geht dich Nichts an." means "It's none of your business" in German.**

 **Edited by Flowerlady-Aerith**


	12. Return to the Basement

**I'm back!**

Chapter 11: return to the basement

Before the lights went out, I finished the article and noticed that Beth tried killing Yuffie's dad. I thought _Gee; I wonder who wrote that down._ But, of course, that was kinda mean. Anyway, I went onward with my mission in the basement. As usual, it was dark. This time, I came prepared with a flash light, like in the game "Luigi's Mansion". I stepped cautiously, my heart racing in the process. It smelled like death now, considering Mika has been sitting there for who knows how long? I could see her rotting. Crap. I should've brought a camera or my phone with me. Lights start flashing, and they're NOT my flashlight. It was coming from the boxes. _Is there a creature in the boxes, or what?_ I open the box carelessly. _It's just a box…._

Something jumped out and hit me in the head. "Ow!" I yelled, falling to the floor. "Hiya, Kupo!" the creature said. This thing is tan, has a big red nose, and little bat wings that happen to be purple. "What are you?" I asked, looking up at the thing- Whatever he is. "The question is, where are we? I think I took a wrong turn, Kupo." I shook my head, letting the jumble of questions leave my head. "How long have you been here?" "I've been in here since 1985," He's old….. "What year is it?" "It's 2016." The creature gives me a shocked look. "What? That Maleficent incident happened 31 years ago?" Maybe I could get some answers now. "What incident?" it started thinking for a minute. "Well…. It started in 1979," he started "And I ended up in this box in 1985….I was taken from my family. I don't exactly remember why. It was something about some princesses," I haven't met any princesses, except for Belle.

"Do you know any of them?" I asked. It shook its head. "Nope, it's been too long." I turned so I could open these other boxes. He talked, I barely listened. I opened another box that contained just what I needed. It was Maleifcent's diary. _Perfect!_ I sat it down. I wanted to see other things. Another box contained seven tiaras. So, there must be seven princesses. Belle, Cinderella, Ariel, Snow White, Jasmine, Aurora, and… who? There are two left. Minnie could've been one… but she's the queen. So, who are these princesses and do they have to do with this whole mystery? The people that I know of in this are: Miki Long, seven princesses, Maleficent and her group, and possibly my parents? Well, this may have to do with the fact that Maleficent can't do magic on mortals. Namine knows a little piece of this, but I know more. But, seriously, that stupid creature keeps talking. "BLAH blah blah…" it baffled on and on.

What does all of this have to do with that thing baffling? I won't know until I open the other boxes. Another one contained a birth certificate. It belonged to Kenshin Long. His mother was Miki Long and his father was unknown. That's odd….. The box to my right has some keyblade. I thought those would stay with the person it belonged to. _Not unless that person's dead…._ Then, I saw another figure. It's a fluffy yellow bird. He's tiny, so he must be a chick. "Chocobo, where have you been?" The red-nosed thing asked. "Chirp, chirp, chirp…." They had some reunion. _Oh, so the bird is in on this, too?_ This makes no sense at all… Why the chick young, yet the other thing is is so old? All of this is leading to dead ends. I've got seven princesses, a group of six containing three woman and three men, a dead woman, a lost cousin, two animals, weapons, and a diary that may explain it all. _I should open it…_

I'm so tempted to open it. But, I think I should get it checked somewhere, just in case it has some magical charm on it. I don't think I know anyone who can do magic but Maleficent. Maybe King Mickey could help me out. I mean, he must know lots of people! I think spring break is coming up. So, I'll travel to the castle around that time. I need to hide all of the evidence of my findings first. The creatures should be the hardest, so I store all of the non-living objects into their proper boxes. I tape them back, so Maleficent would think no one touched them. "What are you doing, Kupo? You're not storing me back into the boxes are you?" I gave him a firm voice. "Yes, I am." The two things ran around. I chased them, but then I got tired. That bird is fast and red nose can fly. I used my Keyblade to hit them back into the boxes ever so effortlessly.

I slowly tip-toe up the staircase. It's about 3:30 in the morning, so I do it real slowly. I crash on my bed. That's when I hear chirping. _Seriously?_ That stupid bird escaped. I go right back down to the basement, a little bit faster than I did going up the stairs. "If you don't stop, I'll make you my dinner!" The chocobo stuck his tongue out as if he were to say "Make me!". It took a while, but I got him down in the box. I went back to my room and fell asleep. Then, I felt a tap. I open my heavy eyes and see Sora. "Sora…. What are you doing here?" Sora replies with a female voice. "Sora? What's wrong with you, Kairi? It's me, Belle." I blink my eyes. I can see clearly now. "What do you want, Belle?" I moaned, trying my best to stay awake. "It's time for school, you know." I tried getting up of off my bed, but I threw up. Alice wells. "Maleficent, I think Kairi's sick!" That evil witch walks in and takes my temperature. "She's fine." She retorted as she made my vomit disappear.

There I was, sitting on the bus, so miserable, I could die. As soon as we arrived at school, I fell off of the bus trying to get off of it. Everything became black again. _I fainted, again?!_ "Kairi, Kairi,can you hear me?" I open my eyes to see Daisy again. "Are you alright?" I shook my head. "Well, your head almost busted open, but thanks to this young man, you're fine." "Huh?" Daisy is gesturing to Sora. "Hey, Kairi." I blinked, to see if my eyes weren't deceiving me. "What happened?" I asked. Sora said "You fell off the bus, but I caught you just in time." That made me blush a little. _Maybe he does care about me._ Daisy dismissed Sora and I. We walked to Algebra class together.

"Hey, Sora?"

"Yes, Kairi?"

"Thanks for saving my head."

"No problem. Anything for a friend."

"So, we are presenting our project today, aren't we?"

"Yes, we are."

 **I think this is the latest I have ever written anything. It's 11:00 PM and I am tired.**


	13. The Odds

**So, recently, Kairi has been picking up some clues…..**

 **But, she doesn't know what they lead to.**

Chapter 12: The Odds

After Sora and I presented our project, we ate lunch. But, of course, he ate his with Xion. I was being such a stalker watching them talk. Olette wasn't at our table today, but Namine was there with Roxas. They were discussing fashion. _I didn't know guys like fashion…._ Olette, I was told, was in studu hall. Others said she was with a guy named Hayner. I didn't care right now. I just couldn't stop thinking about Sora and that black-haired girl. She looked kinda mad. I wonder what she's so mad about. Maybe Pence was in on their relationship, screwing it up. Just to hear their conversation, I went to dump my tray early, which causes me to walk by their table. All of a sudden, I feel hit on my foot. Before I know it, I trip. I look up to see a laughing Pence. "You should've seen the look on your face!" I stood up and cleaned the food off of me. I dump my tray in the trash can and I grab a mop. I mop the floor up and I return to my table. To my surprise, Sora was sitting there. He was talking to Roxas about his issues with Xion.

I butt in "Sorry to interrupt you guys, but what's the problem?" Sora shook his head. He seemed really ticked off. "That girlfriend of mine thinks I keep too many secrets," Roxas added "She tells everyone everything, and she expects everyone to blurt out their secrets. She's nice and all, but she can be quite nosy." I shrugged. "We all have our flaws." Roxas' face turned red "I have NO flaws!" Sora claimed that Roxas thinking that was a flaw. Roxas laughed "You're right." Sora states on of his flaws. "My flaw is-" he gets interrupted by me "You're flawless, don't worry about it." Roxas yells "Hey! That isn't fair!" We all laughed. Namine says "I think my flaw is that I hide in my feelings too much." I nodded. "Very true," Then, Roxas said "I've noticed. Every time I take a selfie, she won't tell me her opinion on it." Sora asked "Can I say my flaw now?" Roxas sighed "Sure." Sora sighed and blushed. "One of my flaws… is the fact that I am dating the wrong girl…." I then blush. Namine squealed. "Who do you like, Sora?"

Sora smiled. "You'll figure it out, eventually." And I could've sworn that he was looking at me. I could be dreaming. _Someone, pinch me!_ I didn't say that out loud, because I didn't want to show my feelings yet. "I'm clumsy…" I said, changing the subject. Then, I fell asleep on the lunch table. I woke up about two minutes later, because we were being dismissed to the buses. I forgot that it was a two-hour early dismissal. The evening announcements came on before I went out the door. "Have a wonderful day, students. Don't forget about the dance Friday." I had no one to go to the dance with me, so I ignored the announcement.

Back at the orphanage, I got a text form Sora. "How did he…?" Namine jumped on her bed, saying "I gave him your number! You're welcome!" I looked at the message. _Hey, Kairi,I was wanting to know if you wanted to go get a drink. Roxas and Namine are, so I figured you would want to join in._ I looked over at Namine. "Namine…." I said with a suspicious tone. "You set me up, didn't you?" Namine smiled proudly. "Yes, I did. I ship it like Fed Ex!" I rolled my eyes, responding to Sora's message. _Sure, I'll go. It sounds nice._ Afterward, Namine and I got ready. Belle and Alice looked a little hopeless. "What about us?" It got really annoying because they were pouting quite a bit. I'm so glad didn't have a little sister.

Namine and I were walking down Traverse Town to a smoothie place. The two boys stood in front of the smoothie place, waving. I was somewhat surprised I didn't see Xion there. "You're here." Roxas kissed Namine's hand like and gentleman. They walked into the restaurant. Sora said "Hey Kairi." He fist-bumped me and we followed the dating couple. As we drank our smoothies, Roxas asked Namine to the dance Friday. She yelled "Yes, YES!" Then, everyone else in the place started staring at Namine. "Someone's getting married?" a three year old asked in the background. Namine laughed nervously and hid herself under the table.

The silence broke because people went on with their business. The four of us talked our casual conversations. But then, Sora brought up that interview on his aunt that took place yesterday. "I can't believe that magazine asked the stupidest questions to my aunt Beth." He shook his head. I asked if she actually did try to kill the interviewee. He nodded. "Yes. When the interviewee left, she cussed in all sorts of languages. She was really mad. She then said that someone was on to her. Now I don't think I can trust Beth. I can't wait until my parents get back from Vegas."

"Well, why are they in Vegas?" Roxas asked. Sora shrugged. "Probably to gamble and get drunk, I guess." I stated my opinion on it. "I don't know why anyone would want to do that." Namine Sighed. "Who knows? Anyway, I drew you something, Roxas." Roxas looked pleased. "Let's have it." Namine handed him her drawing. He looked at it and he started crying. His tears were tears of joy, I hope. He showed it to Sora and me. It was a portrait of Roxas. "Of course," Sora said sarcastically. We always knew he liked himself. But, nevertheless, Sora said "Kairi, I want to tell you something." I jumped, but I tried acting casual. "What is it?"

He paused for a minute. _Does he like me?_ "I got the new Super Smash Bros.!" I tried to act happy about it, because I didn't want him to think I was disappointed. "That's great!" I said as enthusiastic as I could. Roxas face palmed. Namine sighed. They were expecting something else, too. Sora looks down at his watch and realizes it's late. "Guys, if I don't get back to my aunt's house, she'll freak!" Roxas and Namine seemed ready to leave too. "I'll go with you, Sora. Besides, I think Roxas and Namine deserve alone time anyway." Sora smiled at me. I guess he wanted to be alone with me. Either that, or he's thinking about food.

Sora and I were walking down Traverse Town. It was quite romantic because it was getting dark and all the lights on the shops were coming on. "So, how are you and Xion doing?" I asked. Man, I shouldn't have said that. "I think I'm gonna dump her. Why do you ask?" I blushed. "No reason. I just wanted to start a casual conversation." Sora giggled. "What?" after I said that, Sora said "You're different, you know?" I smiled back "Yeah," Time flew by too fast, because we arrived at Sora's destination. "Bye, Kairi .I'll see you tomorrow."

 **Well, I think this chapter is fluff, but I wanted to type it up. The next xhapter will be a time skip to that Friday.**


	14. The Spring Dance

**Here is the spring dance…. This is a time skip to that Friday, right before spring break.**

Chapter 13: Spring Dance

Time went by this week, considering I did almost nothing. I wasn't going to the dance, but Namine insisted that I should go. So, I went. It was at 7:00 PM, and it is currently 6:00 PM. Namine is brushing her hair and singing a song I've never heard before. I was applying my mascara and eyeliner. Namine started curling her hair with a pink curling iron. I rolled my eyes. I wasn't quite the fan of girly things. Sure, I wore dresses and things, but I don't curl my hair or wear too much pink unless I attend a wedding. Namine, on the other hand, is going all out for this spring formal. She's wearing a big white gown and she's letting her curly blonde locks lay on her shoulders, as if she was some kind of princess.

All I did was put a strapless black dress that was somewhat poufy, but not as poufy as Namine's ball gown. It went down my ankles while Namine's was touching the floor. She was also wearing gloves and a tiara. _Did Roxas recommend all of this?_ I wouldn't be surprised if Roxas came as a prince or something. Namine was ready. That's when she turned to me. "Now it's your turn!" My eyes went wide. "What?" She left the room and brought in a tiara, red gloves, and a red and gold ball gown with hearts all over them. I stood my ground by saying "Namine, I'm not wearing that. I'm fine in this." I gestured to my dress. Namine's eyes twinkled. "Please! It's a special occasion and I think we should all look great!"

She convinced me to put that dress on. "Are you happy now?" Namine jumped up and down. "Yes!" Then we where off, looking like two princesses lost in a town. Lots of people did stare. Namine waved and blew kisses. I just kept walking. I didn't want that much attention. Namine seemed to enjoy it. She can have it. Then, Roxas found us. I was right; he is dressed up like a prince. _No wonder they were discussing fashion the other day._ "Sup, princesses?" Roxas asked as he linked arms with Namine. "Oh, not much. Just letting all of the 'common people' stare at me as I give them love." Namine said in a British accent as we walked down the sidewalk.

Roxas laughed lightly. "Glad to hear it. But, you know, I will give you the most attention. With my charming good likes, you'll enjoy it even more." Namine laughed at his modesty. "What about you, Kairi? I wouldn't expect you to dress the way you are dressed." I blew the hair out of my face. "Well, I was talked into it." Roxas smirked. "Oh, really?" the two love birds started snickering suspiciously. "What?" I asked. "Oh, nothing." Namine smiled. "Oh, look. We're here." Roxas said as we step foot in front of the school.

As we entered, I noticed not many people arrived. I did spot Olette in a princess gown as well. It was a light orange. Hayner is dressed as a prince as well. The two couples socialized. That's when I butted in. "Is this some kind of joke?" Olette blinked in a confused motion. "What do you mean?" I gestured to how all of us were dressed. "Hello? Look at all of us! You guys have partners dressed in the same way as you. I don't have a prince like you girls. No one is dressed like us!" I gestured to the other people entering the building. Hayner said "We didn't want you to be left out." My face went red; I was mad. "Oh, trust me. I WILL be left out because I will be a third wheel." Olette shook her head. "Apparently, according to what I just thought up, you would be a fifth wheel. But of course, that doesn't make sense."

That's when the music started. "Have fun, you love birds!" I said as I sat down, watching everybody dance. This wasn't a slow song. But, I had no one to dance with. At least, not at the moment. I got me some punch and I bumped into someone, spilling my punch on the floor. "I'm so sorry." I said, cleaning my punch up. A hand touched my chin and moved my hand so I was facing up. It was the handsome devil named Sora. "Hey, Kairi!" he greeted me with the cutest smile. "Sora?" I asked in awe. "Sorry I'm late." He said. "What do you mean? I wasn't waiting up on you." Sora responded with "Yeah, well, I wanted to surprise you," I cocked my head to the side.

We finally stood up and I questioned what he meant. Sora smiled "I love you Kairi. I'm sorry I haven't said anything sooner. I just—it's so hard to tell this angel how I feel." We were both in eye contact. I think I'm gonna cry. "Will you be my princess?" that's when I notice he's dressed up like a prince as well. I did cry. "I'm sorry." Sorry said in a confused tone."I'll leave you alone." Sora started walking away. "No—Wait! Don't go!" I grabbed him. Sora turned around. "Yes! I've always wanted to be your princess!" Then, we just stared into each other's eyes. I could see passion in those two deep blue eyes. He leaned in and I joined in. There we were, standing in front of the punch bowl, kissing passionately. All of a sudden, I could hear four people say "Awww," Sora and I stop. It was Olette, Hayner, Namine, and Roxas.

"We set you two up, Kairi." Olette smiled. Roxas said "Yeah, we all knew you had a thing for each other." Sora confessed "Yeah, I told everyone I liked you." I was in shock. Was I that oblivious? Sheesh. A slow song came on, and Hayner and Roxas bowed to their girls "May I have this dance?' Then, Siora followed after, doing the same thing for me. Olette and Namine used British accents "But of course!", but I casually said "Yes, you may." It was one of the most beautiful songs playing. It's a song called "Like I'm Gonna lose You". This song caused the other two couples to kiss. Sora played along like he did earlier; he kissed me again. Monkey see, monkey do. "You know you're a monkey, right?" Sora blinked. "Huh?" Then, he made the derpiest face I have ever seen.

I laughed and we kissed again. I've never felt like I belonged before until now. Dancing with a boy is kinda awkward, but it's worth the reward in the end. "What happened to Xion?" I asked. Sora smiled. "Well, I found her someone else." I turn to see her dancing with a silver-haired boy. I was told his name is Riku. Lots of people danced, except for that kid in my English class named Vanitas.

 **Well, this one also had nothing to do with the mystery. But, It's fun to add to the story, you know?**


	15. Getting Ready For the Trip

**Happy New Year's Eve everyone!**

Chapter 14: Getting Ready For the Trip

It's now spring break and I am planning on going to visit King Mickey so I can get that spell charm off of Maleficent's diary. Before I could do that, I have to get gummi ship tickets or plane tickets. Private gummi ships are a little more expensive than public airplanes. I am thinking of riding a gummi ship because not that many people would be traveling to Disney Castle. There's one thing I am questioning, though: How do I get the munny? Well, I live in a town full of people, so I am thinking that I should do something that lots of people do if they don't have money: street perform.

It sounds stupid, yet brilliant at the same time because I am not old enough to get a job and I may get a decent amount of money. _Will Maleficent get suspicious? Will she know I am gone? How do I get the diary without her knowing?_ I guess I'll tell her that I am taking language classes and that I am traveling for it because I'm doing so well. I just noticed all of my lies have to do with school. Well, that's the only thing she allows, basically. So, I'll just tell her that. If I'm lucky, the diary will still be in its box and I can just slip it into my suitcase.

When it gets dark, I sit a hat down on the ground and I sing, dance, and tell some jokes. No one takes notice of me. All I get is a nickel. So, I return to the orphanage and I ask the others for some ideas. Namine said "I'll give you ideas, as long as you include me in your act." Belle and Alice agreed with that. The worst part was that they wanted some of the money. "Why do you want to street perform, anyway?" Belle asked. I couldn't just tell her the whole story about the whole truth behind Maleficent and her gang. "It's a family business and I am trying to continue it." I covered it up. Namine winked. I think she knew what was going on. Alice sighed. "Then, we can't ruin your family's tradition by being in this." Belle agreed. Namine just gave me ideas.

"Here's what you could do: We could sing a song and insult each other." It's a great idea. I'm not gonna lie. "Great idea," I said. "Now, let's go get 'em!" Walking out, Namine asked "This is for your investigation, right?" I nodded. "Yes. Do you really want some of the money?" Namine shook her head. "No. I was just trying to play along with the others, so I could sound convincing to them and nothing would be suspicious." I smiled slowly in response. "Ah, I see what you did there!"

In the middle of the third district, I started singing.

 _When you walk away,_

 _You don't hear me say,_

" _Please, Oh baby! Don't go!"_

I was singing off key so Namine could criticize me. "No, no, no! You've got it all wrong! It goes like this:"

 _Donna toki date,_ _  
_ _Tada hitori de,_ _  
_ _Unmei wasurete,_ _  
_ _Ikite kita no ni._

Namine was singing it in Japanese. "What are you, Japanese?" Namine looked shocked. "No I am not, you racist!" that's when people laughed and gave us munny. "That's it! I've had enough!" I yelled. "If you are going to sing the song, sing it right!"

 _Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight_.

 _It's hard to let it go!_

"Now, let's not even mention the song 'Let it go' by Elsa." Namine said in an annoyed tone. I pushed her. Namine pushed me back as we simultaneously sang our songs

 _Totsuzen no hikari no naka me ga sameru,_ _  
_ _Mayonaka ni!_

 _You're giving me too many things._

 _Lately, you're all I need!_

 _No!_

 _Shizuka ni deguchi ni tatte,_ _  
_ _Kurayami ni hikari o ute!_

We were singing like we were drunk. And everyone thought it was hilarious. In the end, we earned just enough for me to get my gummi ship right on the way and on the way back. On the way home, I thanked Namine so much. "Thank you! Merci! Gracias! Arigato! Xie xie!" Namine giggled. "I get it. You're welcome. You don't need to express in French, Spanish, Japanese, or Chinese." I looked over to her. "How can I make this up to you?' Namine smiled "The laughter was enough. You don't need to do anything." _There's gotta be a cache…_ "Are you sure?" "Yes."

Back at the orphanage, I got a text from my beloved boyfriend. It said: "Do you have any plans for Spring Break?" I replied back and told him I was going to a tourist attraction. He didn't know I was an orphan, so he didn't question it. All he said was: "Can I come?" I replied back. "Do you have any munny to ride the gummi ship with me?" He seemed really happy about it. "Sweet! You're riding a gummi ship?" Sora said that his parents let him go with me to this 'tourist attraction'. When he sees me alone in the gummi ship, he'll ask me where my parents are and all of that. I'll have to tell him the truth. I wonder if he'll ever look at me the same ever again after discovering that I am an orphan.

Yeah, I never really told anyone that I was an orphan. Not even Namine said a word about it, and she's been one almost her whole life! I wonder what Sora is going to do when I tell him. I bet he will tell everyone. Maybe they will all call me 'Raggedy Ann' because they will think I am poor and because of my red hair. Who knows what will happen? Sora can be unpredictable sometimes. Will people ask if Namine is one too? This may ruin everyone's point of view about everything.

Nevertheless, I started packing my suitcase. I was lucky enough to find the diary as the same spot as before. The creatures didn't bother me, so everything went according to plan. Maybe things are going to perfectly according to plan… I'll expect the unexpected for everything. Maybe this diary is a fake. Well, it's pretty heavy, and it gives me an odd feeling, so it must have magic in it. For some reason, I can feel it. It's not like I am a fairy or anything, but I can sense magic. It makes me wonder why I am in the form of a human. Well, there is Tinkerbell, but she's a fairy. Donald Mcduck has magic, but of course, he's a duck.

My head is jumping to too many subjects when I should be focusing on the trip. I'm just lying in bed, in the dark, realizing I'm so close to solving this whole mystery. Heck, I came here in the fall and I can't even believe how much time has gone by. I've become different person. I used to not give any cares in the world, now I'm sneaky. It's odd on how something like this could affect another person.

 **Well, I just realized I started this story in the late summer, and then made this chapter spring of that next year. Then, I thought** _ **Crap, this makes no sense….**_ **So, I hope you guys are following along all right. :) Anyway, the song is obviously "Simple and Clean" by Utata Hikaru. The Japanese verison is called "Hikari".**


	16. Ride in the Gummi Ship

**Happy new year, everyone!**

Chapter 15: Ride in the Gummi Ship

I leave the orphanage as soon as I can, so no questions are thrown at me. I get a taxi to the Gummi Ship station. Sora was meeting me over there, so I didn't have to pick him up. In the taxi, I just sat there like a normal person while the driver sang along to a song called "Out of the Woods" He was a terrible singer; he was doing even worse than I was last night on the streets. What I did was just for entertainment; it wasn't my actual singing voice. His singing skills are real. I tried not to yell at this man; I was getting pretty annoyed by his high pitched voice going "Are we out of the woods? Are we out of the woods? Are we out of the woods? Are we in the clearing? Are we in the clearing? Are we in the clearing?" I quickly put ear buds in my ears and put" Pon Pon Pon" by Kyary Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on full blast. But, it didn't block out his voice. I just stuffed my face in one of those pillows I brought with me. I was cussing under my breath.

Finally, after a long thirty minutes, we arrived at the gummi ship station. Sora beat me there; probably because he didn't have a driver who was singing like he was drunk and slowing down because he was practically blind. I left the taxi as soon as I could so I could get in Sora's grasp. I literally jumped out of the taxi and hugged Sora. "Hey babe," he kissed my forehead. We walked together into the station and got on the gummi ship. This one had a driver's seat and three spots in the back, but the seats were attached together. Behind those seats was a bed, just in case the trip gets long and tiring. Sora and I put our luggage on the bed and sat on the seats, waiting for a driver to come out of the ship's bathroom.

"So, what took you so long to get to the station?" Sora asked.

"It was the stupid driver in the taxi who couldn't sing and was almost blind."

"Maybe he shouldn't be driving."

"At least I'm here now. Let's change the subject. I'm kinda done with that driver."

"Okay. What tourist attraction are we visiting?"

"Well, let's just say I'm taking us to….. The Disney Castle."

"No way! We're meeting the king?! How did you get the permission from your parents to go there?"

That's when I broke into tears. _My parents are gone._ I wish it was that simple to tell him, but I stuttered trying to "My—My—" Sora wiped the tears off of my face with his thumbs and grasped me in a hug. "What's wrong? I didn't mean to make you cry…. Again." I giggled. "The first time was tears of joy." I said as the ship took off. I fell off of my seat; I forgot to buckle up. Sora accidently let go of me because he had his seatbelt on. "Kairi! You okay?" I nodded and got back on my seat and made sure I was secured on my seat. "Now, tell me what's wrong." Sora made eye contact with me. "Well—" Sora stayed patient. He sat there silently, waiting for me to speak. "My parents passed away a couple months ago."

"I'm so sorry. Who are you living with?" Sora looked worried. I blurted the statement "I'm an orphan." slowly. Sora looked shocked. "I—" he said. I interrupted him "You don't need to say anything. I know what you're thinking. I'm no good to you. I'm just a homeless girl in the orphanage, waiting to get adopted." I said in a sad tone. "If you want, we can break up." Sora shook his head, smiling. "That's not at all what I was thinking." My crying stopped. "Huh?" Sora put his hands on my shoulders and his face got close to me. "Look, just because you're an orphan, that doesn't mean you're not Kairi. The Kairi I met was an orphan. So, what? She's a great girl that any guy would be lucky to have. I know we've only been dating for three days, but I feel like I've known you for so long. My point of view on you didn't change at all. You're still that red-headed mystery I fell in love with."

With that, he pulled me into a kiss. At the corner of my eye, I could see the driver look through the rear-view mirror. He looked disgusted and said "No PDA!" (PDA is Public Display of Affection). Sora said back at him "This is a _Private_ gummi ship." putting the emphasis on the "Private". The driver shook his head and went on with his driving. Sora kept a sharp eye on the driver and then looked back at me. "So, how did you get all of this for the trip?" I explain everything to him, the mystery, my parents' death, all the lies I told Maleficent, and where I live currently. After I told him everything, he sat there, trying to process my story. "So, we're going to see Mickey to get a magical charm off of Maleficent's diary. What if it's a fake diary?"

An idea popped up in my head "I'll see if Mickey could tell me the whole story." Sora nodded, looking pretty impressed. "Anyway," Sora said. "It's getting pretty late. Do you want to turn in?" I shook my head. "No, I think I need some time to think." Sora understood. So, he got changed in the bathroom and laid in the bed. I looked out one of the giant windows, standing with a blank face. A poem suddenly popped up in my head.

 _All though we did depart,_

 _You'll always be in my heart._

 _You say I won't see you again, no matter when._

 _I object and see you in my dreams and I cry in the night._

 _My love for you is formed into a light._

 _This light brings me my memories of you._

 _I couldn't bear to watch them._

 _I am deep in my sad mood._

 _Say that you miss me too._

 _Come back for me, I'll be waiting._

 _This sorrow is something I am now hating._

 _You don't know what you have until it's gone._

 _I know that I gotta stay strong._

 _Come to me, I will call your name in tears of joy._

 _I am now here with Sora MCcoy._

 _I recalled everything and know I wish I could go back in time._

 _Back then, everything was just fine._

I said the words out loud, crying. Suddenly, I feel a grasp around my waist coming from behind me. It was sora, crying with me. "Your words were beautiful." He said, laying his head on my shoulder while kissing me on the cheek. We stood there for another moment of silence. I could have a million of these if I wanted to, but I can move on. As soon as we were done, we laid on the bed. Sora held me in a hug-like grasp. For once, I feel secure and safe.

 **Okay, another chapter was done. Here are some things I would like to say: 1) I don't own Taylor Swift's song "Out of the Woods" 2) no sexual activity will take place and 3) I do own the poem.**


	17. Gummi Ship Crash

**After a long while, I update! What took me so long? Well, school, projects, moving on from my ex, and all of that. Without further or do, here is chapter 15!**

Chapter 16: Gummi ship crash

After my little moment of comfort and quite, I heard a crash and everything started shaking. I thought it was one of those dreams when I slipped and fell, but then I realized it was reality when Sora shook me awake. "Kairi! The ship crashed! Wake up!" I shot up from the bed. "What?" Sora repeated himself "I said—" I stopped him. "I heard you earlier. Where are we? Where's the pilot?" I started panicking. Sora helped me up from the bed and we looked for the pilot. Stating the obvious, I said "Oh, crap! He's not there." Sora opened the entrance door. He was nowhere to be found. "He must've worked for Maleficent." I sighed.

"It's a set up!" He shouted in anger. It turns out that she knew that everything was a lie and she knew what I was doing. Not knowing what to do, I just start crying. "I'm never going to figure out what happened in the past." Sora tried comforting me, but it didn't help completely. "Is there a radio?" Sora stood up from the floor. He looked over at the control panel. "It's busted," he growled. "Our only choice is to walk to the castle or find another flight. We also need to figure out where we are."

Sora and I walked out of the ship. It looked like we were in some jungle. "Wait—I've seen this place somewhere!" Sora exclaimed as we looked around. "Where are we?" I desperately asked as if it would've killed me if I never figured it out. In this case, it kind of would. "I can't remember. I regret not paying attention to geography class." I sighed as we kept on walking. The sun was finally coming up. "Look! Daylight!" I cheered. All of a sudden, something or someone touched me on the back. I turned hesitantly, hoping it wasn't a spider. I hate spiders.

I saw a man that was almost naked, not speaking our language, and had really long hair. " $#%^%#" he said. Sora shook his head. "What, now?" The man repeated himself. Sora walked away. "I don't have time for this," He stopped and turned to me. "What do you want to do?" I stood there for a minute. I had two choices: Follow monkey man or keep looking for a sign of civilization. "Let's follow this guy." I said, gesturing the person we couldn't understand.

He started walking like a gorilla and Sora and I followed him. Unaware of anything, we just kept trampling along. Monkey man fell into a lake. "That was our only way to Mickey." I whined like a four-year-old. Sora heroically jumped into the water and got the drowning person out. As soon as Sora did CPR and all of that, I commented "Looks like someone payed attention in health class. Which, I may remind you, is partially Sex ed." Sora laughed softly as he looked back at the struggling person. The jungle-born man bounced back up as if nothing happened to him and got back to leading us to something.

The trail ended after three miles. It was a tree house that looks like it has had its years. As we entered, "Tar-Zan." Said the man, gesturing to himself, finally making sense. I played along. "Kai-ri." Sora joined in "So-Ra". Talking like that for the rest of the time we would be here would make me want to pull my hair out, so I stopped talking to Tarzan for a while. I turned to Sora "What do you think this means?" Sora shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe he knows we are lost and need a shelter." I turned over to Tarzan. He was talking to some gorillas.

A little gorilla grabbed me by the hand. "Help me." I whispered to Sora, making sure the gorilla wouldn't hear me, as if he would understand me. Sora ran after the ape and me to point B. As soon as we stopped, I fell over. Sora helped me back up and pulled me into a hug. "Well, well," Said a woman. "It looks like we're not the only civilized ones here." She was accompanied by two gentlemen. "Professor, do you recognize these two?" A short, old man examined Sora and I. "No, I've never seen them before." The lady held her hand out. "I am Jane, Jane Porter." Sora shook her hand.

"That is Clayton and the man who eyed you has a really long name. Just call him professor." We shook hands with everyone. "So, what brings you here?" asked the professor. Sora explained our story. "Oh, my goodness." Said Jane. "We need to get you some help immediately." She led us to a van with a working radio. "Mayday, mayday. We are in…." I paused. "Where are we?" Jane explained our location. I stated all of that into the radio. "No one has heard us yet." I moaned and plopped and sat in one of the seats. "Don't give up." She said as she left the van.

Sora and I took turns calling out for someone. Suddenly, a kindly voice was on the radio. "Hey, fellas! What are you guys doing back there?" Sora took the microphone from me "Your majesty, we were on our way to see you, but we got stranded." Mickey paused. "Well, I'll send my bravest knight to come retrieve you." Sora and I thanked him countless times. "No problem. See you tomorrow!" He hung up. That's when I noticed that the sun was already going down.

Sora and I waited around for the knight. Sora said he would probably be coming in a Gummi ship. So, I kept my eyes peeled for a gummi ship. "I'm here to bring you to the palace." Said a gruff voice coming from behind us. It was a fat cat. That's the knight?! Where's his gummi ship? His armor? "Okay." I said while we followed the so-called knight. "So, you're the knight." Said Sora. "Yes, I am." Said the cat. "If you're the knight, then where's your armor? Where's the gummi ship?"

"Oh, the palace is not too far. I came here on foot. And, there is no danger. So, why would I need any armor?" Sora scoffed. "You'll never know when anything will pop out of nowhere in these jungles." The cat yelled "Shut up and let's get to the palace." I knew that a knight wouldn't behave like that, so I hit him with my keyblade. I swear, I could see flames in his eyes. "You want to tussle? Then, let's tussle, kiddies!"

 **Okay, I know, this chapter is cliché. But, I figured this would be better than getting to the palace straight on. Let me know if you guys have any ideas for me. Please PM me!**


	18. What Now?

**I'm back! Sorry if the beginning is a little off from last chapter. I'm on a different computer, so I don't exactly remember what happened last chapter.**

Chapter 17: What Now?

Sora got his keyblade out and I decided to join him. This guy works for Maleficent, we're better off fighting him, right? The giant cat protested to us fighting him. "Oh, come on! Don't you want to go to the castle?" Sora hit him and I yelled "Give up the act! We know you're not Mickey's knight! You are far from brave…." His eyes went wide. "How dare you call Pete a scaredy cat?!" Sora scoffed. "You screamed earlier because of a frog."

Pete started throwing little fire crackers. I jumped as Sora strikes from behind Pete. Pete suddenly vanishes. "Where did he go?" I turn cautiously. "….." Sora was speechless. Pete reappeared. "You think you've seen the last of me, hm?" I didn't respond and Sora didn't either. We just fought. Pete had more tricks up his sleeve, sadly, because then a dragon came flying in. "Is that—"

I got interrupted by a "roar". Pete laughed "You're toast now!" I had no magic, so there was nothing I could do. Sora said "Nope, we'll stay bread." I was confused at what he said. I cocked my head, but I stayed on my toes; I don't exactly know what is going to happen next. Then, Sora casted some spell. I lost sight of Sora, but I could tell the spell took effect on me. We're both invisible. "I can still see you." Said the dragon. Pete scratched his head. "Huh? You can?!"

The dragon hit Pete in the head. "What are you, special? You know I'm Maleficent and I can see through every spell." Pete laughed "I see what you did there!" Wait—I was right! That is Maleficent. That means she knew what I was doing all along. "Kairi, please come back. There's a family who wants to adopt you." I almost cried. _Someone actually wants me?_ Then, I shook my head. "No, you evil liar. How could I trust you after everything you have done?"

Sora took the spell off and then Maleficent retorted "You don't know the whole story. That's why I'm here. I don't want you to live to tell the tale." Sora got really angry then. "What do you want from her?!" Maleficent didn't say anything. She just grabbed me. "Once I'm through with you, you'll be dead!" I tried to get free, but I struggled. The dragon form of her is very strong. "Kai-" Sora got strangled by Pete. "Shut up."

Maleficent kept on flying. I could barely breathe. "Where…..are…..we..going?" I said in some of the breaths I had left. "Somewhere where you can join the others princesses in their doom!" Me, a princess?! She is making no sense whatsoever. "What….." everything was going black. I can't barely talk know. _I need a hero to save me… just in time._ In moment's notice, a tiny fairy flew inside of Maleficent's nostril. "Ah-choo!" she sneezed, letting me go. I was then falling. I feel like I'm living in a classic cartoon, with some of the stuff happening. Nevertheless. I spun, hoping I would end up turning into a magical being. I'm a princess….. Right?

Just when I got really close to falling into a lake, Maleficent returned and clutched me harder. This time, I knew I was done for. Slowly, everything was turning black and I could see red. Am I bleeding? I swear, I could hear Maleficent chuckle. Then, I lost sight of everything…..

I woke up in some dark room. Thankfully, I could breathe a little better. I wasn't in a laying position. I'm standing but….. I'm tied up. I looked around and other princesses were tied up as well. "Oh, the seventh one is here." A man in a black cloak said. Another figure appeared in the same cloak. "We're missing the sixth, aren't we?" the other nodded.

The other princesses looked like they were asleep. And… They were classifying us by number? Ugh, this is just getting worse and worse. The door opened and I could see some light. Maleficent was in there in her human form. "I've got the sixth princess." In her arms, I could see Alice! She's a princess too?! "Well, let's tie her up. Then, we can get on with the operation." Said one cloaked man.

The other carried Alice to a post a tied her up next to me. "Maleficent, one of them is awake." Said the man when he noticed my eyes were open. "Uh…." I acted like I was getting weak. Thankfully, it was believable. He said "Nevermind."

I could hear Maleficent say "Where are the others? Beth? Larxene? Uh…." One of the men said "You forgot Xehnort." "Yes." Maleficent said, feeling better. The door opened and a female voice said "Mistress, we've got a problem!" Maleficent sighed in an annoyed tone. "What is it this time?" the other female voice said "Pete's been captured by Mickey. You know we can't do the operation without him."

Maleficent sighed "As annoying as he is, you're right. Let's go get that son of a no good fighter." For a minute there, I thought she was going to say something else…..

I could hear footsteps, indicating everyone left. I opened my eyes. Yep, they're all gone. How stupid are they? Don't they know I'm capable of breaking free? These ropes were made of dark magic. I learned about this in girl scouts when I was little. All I had to do was sing a song about good things. They underestimated just who they were dealing with.

I tried to think of a cheesy song that was about good things. Hmm….

 _Because I'm happy…_

 _Clap along if you feel like a room without a roof_

 _Because I'm happy…_

 _Clap along if you feel like that's what you want to do._

Luckily, the song works. I tried to sing like that that one lady off of "The Sound of Music" earlier, and surprisingly, it worked!

 **Yeah, yeah, I know. This chapter was short. Oh, well. I suck at stuff like this.**


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